She runs world records, wins World Cup and European Championship medals in several disciplines and is simply the towering favorite for gold at the European Indoor Championships in Istanbul next weekend. Femke Bol seems like a natural talent, but she is much more than that. “Five years ago, Femke was already so eager and so perfectionist.”
Of Bol op de EK weer een wereldrecord op de 400 meter kan lopen? “Femke kennende wel, het is alleen de vraag of het verstandig is.” Bram Peters, de coach van Bol, zegt het met een grote glimlach. “Ik weet niet of je het weet, maar na een wereldrecord moet je ter controle je spikes inleveren. Dat is niet handig, want ze moet de estafette ook nog lopen. Maar zonder gekheid, dat komt wel goed. Femke heeft altijd genoeg schoenen bij zich.”
De “topprofessional” Bol is ook niet het type dat met één of twee paar spikes in de tas naar een toernooi vliegt. Ze is altijd tot in de puntjes voorbereid, met dank aan een boekje waarin ze alles schematisch plant en bijhoudt. Letterlijk tot een kopje koffie aan toe, vertelt Lisanne de Witte, die al jaren tot de beste 400 meterlopers van Nederland behoort. Een paar weken geleden maakte ze het van dichtbij mee toen ze met Bol en andere Nederlandse atleten naar het Amerikaanse Boston reisde.
“Ik was niet echt voorbereid op de jetlag en dacht: het komt wel goed. Maar Femke had een heel schema gemaakt. Die had precies gepland wanneer ze even naar buiten zou gaan en wanneer ze zou eten. Er stond zelfs in wanneer het tijd was voor koffie. Ik deed dat bakkie koffie met haar mee. En daarna heb ik het schema ook gevolgd, alleen liep zij daar in Boston een wereldrecord op de 500 meter. Ongelooflijk. Onbewust heb ik ervan geleerd. Ik dacht: misschien moet ik voortaan ook zo gestructureerd leven tijdens een toernooi.”
‘Femke didn’t think it was scary’
The roles have reversed a bit. A few years ago, the now thirty-year-old De Witte belonged to the European top and she was an example for the seven years younger Bol. “I remember she asked me how she should handle the last part of a race. Because I was so good at that,” De Witte recalls.
“I found that very special. Believe me, there are not many young girls who dare to ask an experienced athlete such things. They may be afraid of a reaction such as: I’m not going to tell you that. But Femke didn’t think it was scary . She was so eager and so diligent five years ago, while she still took 54 seconds to run the 400 meters. I think she really benefited from me then. As I am now inspired by her perfectionism, her enthusiasm and of course her performance.” Laughing: “Although I’m guessing that I won’t run 49.26 again in my career.”
With that world record time of 49.26 in the 400 meters, Bol wrote sports history a week and a half ago at the NK indoor in Apeldoorn. It was another milestone in its extremely rapid rise in recent years. On Saturday she can extend her European title in the 400 meters indoor in Istanbul and outdoor she has also been reigning European champion since last summer. And then she is also number two in the world in her most beloved event, the 400 meters hurdles.
Bol is therefore the leader and the signboard of the extremely successful Dutch athletics in recent years. On the other hand, she is still the same approachable young woman from Amersfoort with an almost eternal smile, who hardly realizes what is happening to her. “I read that Alisson Felix (fourteen-time world champion, ed.) has responded to my world record. I find that so special,” she said at a press conference at top sports center Papendal last week.
‘You have to dare to dream big’
The respect for Felix is characteristic of Bol. In 2021, she was surprised to see Olympic champion Dalilah Muhammad, whom she looks up to, Instagram wrote about a “amazing race” from the Dutch. Bol was honoured. But a year later she already left Muhammad behind at the World Cup in Eugene.
That is also typical for Femke, says Lieke Klaver, who is the Dutch number two in the 400 meters behind Bol. “You have to dare to dream big”, Femke once said to me. “And trust that those dreams can come true.”
The two have a close bond. “Even just before an important race I can joke a bit with Femke. Then the foreign competition is silent around us. They probably think: keep your mouth shut for a while. But then we will find the relaxation together that we so need. “
Once on the track, they can also help each other. “Because Lieke always starts hard, she pushes me to go even faster,” said Bol after her world record race in Apeldoorn. Klaver in turn raced in Bol’s slipstream to a personal best of 50.34. Full of disbelief and joy, they then lay together on the track in Apeldoorn.
“We were also happy for each other, I thought that was so beautiful,” says Klaver. “At that moment I could also be really happy with 50.34, because that is incredibly hard for me. And then I shouldn’t compare myself to Femke. No, I’m not jealous. I’m proud of myself and think it amazing what Femke is doing.”
‘I immediately became emotional’
De Witte also participated in Bol’s record race. She crossed the finish line in fourth place, after which she noticed from the cheering and the discharge in the stands of Omnisport Apeldoorn that something special had happened. “Then I saw Femke’s 49.26 on the board and I immediately became a bit emotional. A world record at an NK, that is not normal.”
Bols coach Peters was standing with a camera in his hand at that moment. “I filmed the whole race to be able to analyze it later, not knowing what kind of race it would be. Because of the excitement and the discharge, I couldn’t always keep the camera still. And after the race it took me 15 minutes to realize what had happened.”
Peters secretly hoped for a world record. “But at most with a time of 49.5. But yes, Femke is Femke. She just runs three tenths faster than I thought possible. 49.26 is bizarre.”
Bol continues to amaze Peters, even though the two have been working together for years. And that while the Dutch National Championships and also the European Championships next weekend in Istanbul are mainly preparation tournaments for the much more highly regarded World Outdoor Championships in August in Budapest. There, Bol – a year before the Olympic Games in Paris – hopes to become world champion for the first time in the 400 meter hurdles that she loves so much, which is not on the indoor program.
Peters: “Femke is already in a lot better shape than a year ago, that promises a lot. I still have no idea where this is going and where this will ever end. But there are still a few nice tricks coming from Femke this year And even after that, she’s far from finished.”
Snelste vrouwen ooit op de 400 meter indoor
- 1. Femke Bol (Nederland) – 49,26 (2023)
- 2. Jarmila Kratochvílová (Tsjechoslowakije) – 49,59 (1982)
- 3. Natalya Nazarova (Rusland) – 49,68 (2004)
- 4. Tatána Kocembová (Tsjechoslowakije) – 49,76 (1984)
- 5. Sabine Busch (Oost-Duitsland) – 50,01 (1984)
