Femke Bol

Sports Career of Femke Bol | Femke Bol Biography

Femke Bol is one of the most decorated track and field athletes in the history of the Olympics and World Championships. Up until 2025, her primary event at the senior level has been the 400-meter hurdles, but she recently announced that she will be contesting the 800-meter starting in 2026.

Bol began athletics as a young child and started competing internationally in the 400 meters in 2015, at the age of 15, attending the 13^th European Olympic Festival in Georgia (the country, not the American state).

Bol continued to focus on the 400 meters through her youth career. In 2017, she competed at the European U20 Championships as one of the youngest competitors. She finished eighth in her semifinals.

She started focusing on the 400-meter hurdles in 2019, a move that would pay off since she would qualify for the 2019 World Championships in the event. She also won the 2019 European U20 Championships in the event, running 56.25 seconds.

In 2020, she qualified for her first Diamond League event, finishing third at the Herculis meeting in Monaco in the 400-meter. She ran the 400-meter hurdles for the first time in the Diamond League a little over a week later, winning the BAUHAUS-Galan meeting in Sweden. She finished her season by running 53.90 seconds at the Golden Gala in Rome and taking home her second Diamond League title.

First Olympics and Beyond

Bol started her 2021 season by winning the 400-meter at the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Toruń, Poland. She would also anchored the Dutch relay team to gold in the 4 x 400 meters.

She continued to dominate the Diamond League circuit through 2021, winning in Rome, Norway, Sweden, and London—and later Lausanne and Zurich after the Olympics.

Bol ran the 4 x 400-meter mixed relay, 4×400-meter relay, and 400-meter hurdles at the Olympics in Tokyo. The Dutch relay teams narrowly missed the podium, but she picked up her first Olympic medal in the 400-meter hurdles, running a personal best of 52.03 seconds. She finished behind the pair of Americans, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Daliah Muhammad.

Bol was poised for another dominant season in 2022 and started by finishing second in the 400-meter at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade, Serbia. At the World Championships in Eugene, she helped the Dutch mixed relay team finish second in the 4 x 400-meter relay. She also finished second in the 400-meter hurdles, once again finishing behind her rival Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, who would run a world record time of 50.68 seconds.

Bol was in a league of her own in 2023. She only lost one race the entire season, the 200 meters at the Dutch Championships, which wasn’t a race she frequently contested. At the World Championships in Budapest, she easily won the 400-meter hurdles with her rival, McLaughlin, out with an injury. Bol ran a personal best of 51.70 seconds.

In the mixed 4 x 400-meter relay, it would look like the Dutch team would win as Bol headed toward the finish line. But as she reached the line, she lost her footing and fell, allowing the USA to seize the win and the world record. The Dutch failed to complete the race.

Bol exerted the same dominance on the world scale in 2024 as she did in 2023, winning every 400-meter and 400-meter hurdle race, including the European Championships, until the Olympic Games.

At the Olympics, Bol split 48.00 seconds in the mixed 4 x 400-meter en route to winning gold, the fastest split time by a female runner in the race.

In the 400-meter hurdles, Bol made an attempt to finally best her rival, McLaughlin. She started strong but ran out of gas on the back stretch, getting passed by the other American Anna Cockrell and having to settle for bronze.

Two days later, she anchored the Dutch 4 x 400 meter relay team to a silver medal.

McLaughlin moved to the flat 400-meter in 2025, leaving the path to World Championship gold open for Bol. She won every 400-meter race she entered in 2025 and finished about half a second ahead of the American Jasmine Jones at the World Championships.

After the season, Bol announced that she would be moving to the 800-meter in 2026. At the time of writing, she hadn’t contested this event since 2017, when she ran 2:19.51 indoors as a 16-year-old.

Femke Bol Personal Life and Other Facts |

Before starting track and field, Bol practiced Judo. However, she broke her arm twice when she was young. In her own words, she was “Really bad.”

In a 2023 interview, Bol said that she has a Kinder Bueno as a celebratory treat after racing together with her training partner Lieke Klaver.

Bol has said that her three favorite athletes are Epke Zonderland, Michael Phelps, and Usain Bolt.

Femke’s main rival in the 400-meter hurdles has been the American Sydney McLaughlin. At the time of writing, Bol has never beaten McLaughlin in their three lifetime match-ups.

Bol has an older brother, whom she has said is the one who got her into the sport of athletics. Bol started athletics when she was around 7–8 years old.

Femke Bol graduated from Wageningen University in the Netherlands, where she studied communications.

Bol hurdles with 15 steps between the hurdles up to hurdle 8, then with 16 steps between the last two hurdles.

She has called lane 3 her “lucky lane.”

FAQs | Femke Bol

How Tall Is Femke Bol? | Femke Bol Height

Femke Bol is 184 centimeters tall, or a little over six feet.

Who is Femke Bol’s Husband? | Is Femke Bol Married?

As of 2025, Femke Bol is engaged to Ben Broeders, a Belgian pole vaulter with a personal best of 5.85m in the event. They bought a house together in 2024.

How Many Olympic Medals Does Femke Bol Have? | Femke Bol Olympics

Femke Bol has four medals from the 2020 and 2024 Olympics.  

Who Is Femke Bol’s Coach?

Femke Bol currently works with the Swiss coach Laurent Meuwly. Meuwly won the World Athletics Coaching Achievement Award in 2023 and is the head of sprinting, hurdles, and relays in the Netherlands.

Is Femke Bol Related to Manute Bol?

Femke Bol and Manute Bol have the same last name but are not related. Manute Bol is from Sudan. Femke Bol is also not related to the Australian middle-distance runner Peter Bol, who was also born in Sudan.

How Fast Will Femke Bol Run the 800m in 2026?

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