Dutch athlete Femke Bol broke her own 400-metre indoor world record on Sunday. She accomplished the feat at the Netherlands’ national championships, finishing in a time of 49.24 seconds. This performance cleaves two-hundredths of a second off the record she set one year ago.
Bol, the 400m hurdles world champion, set the record less than two weeks before the World Indoor Athletic Championships taking place in Glasgow, Scotland.
“It’s a dream come true to run another world record and it’s wonderful to have all these Dutch fans enjoying the most beautiful sport in the world,” Bol said during her post-race interview.
🇳🇱Femke Bol's 49.24 indoor 400m world record!pic.twitter.com/2gthkp5j7D
— Travis Miller (@travismillerx13) February 18, 2024
Last year, she bettered a 40-year-old time of 49.59 set by Jarmila Kratochvilova on March 7, 1982. Kratochvilova was a Czechoslovakian athlete who has long been suspected of being aided by doping.
Finishing in second place was Lieke Klaver in 50.10. She was followed in by Cathelijn Peeters in 52.08. The meet took place at the Omnisport stadium in Apeldoorn.
The 23-year-old is a two-time World Athletics Championships gold medallist and a Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist.
Bol started her 2024 indoor season in Metz, where she won the 400m with a meet record time of 49.69. She also finished first in the 200m track in 22.64. In that race, she set both a Dutch indoor record and the meet record. On Feb. 10, she won the 400m in Liévin in 49.63, which was another meet record and the fourth-best result of all time.
