"I’m excited to be racing again"- Femke Bol returns to the track in the Diamond League after missing out on the gold medal in 400mH at Paris Olympics

Femke Bol announced her return to the track after concluding her Paris Olympics campaign with three medals. The Dutch athlete will be racing at the Athletissima Lausanne Diamond League 2024 in the women's 400m hurdles on Thursday, August 22.

Femke Bol marched into the Paris Olympics after a successful run in the early 2024 season, with two world records in the Indoor 400m and a personal best in the 400m hurdles which stood at 50.95s. She won the bronze medal in the women's 400m hurdles after clocking 52.15s, finishing behind USA's Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Anna Crockell.

The Dutch athlete expressed disappointment after her performance but was grateful for the opportunity to perform on such a big stage. A week after the Paris Olympics, Bol announced her return to the track at the Lausanne Diamond League 2024 in the women's 400m hurdles.

She took to Instagram to exude excitement for her first race after the Paris Olympics.

"Guess what time it is…⌚️🏃‍♀️Back on the track tomorrow night at beautiful @athletissima 🤩It’s been a busy few weeks, but I’m excited to be racing again ❤️‍🔥," she wrote.

Some of her top competitors in the women's 400m hurdles at the Lausanne Diamond League 2024 are Shamier Little, Rushell Clayton and Rushell Clayton among others.

Femke Bol on her performance in the women's 400m hurdles at the Paris Olympics

Femke Bol - Athletics - Olympic Games Paris 2024: Day 13 - Source: Getty

After Femke Bol set a new personal best in the 400m hurdles two weeks before the Paris Olympics, she was considered to be a strong contender for the title alongside Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone. However, the Dutch athlete could not perform her best in the women's 400m hurdles finals as her body felt stiff due to the lactate build-up in the final stretch of the race.

She expressed her disappointment in a post-race interview at the Stade de France.

"No, It's not at all what I wanted. I still took bronze, so this is something special for me that I could defend, but, I wanted my best race but if it had been my best race, I would be happy. But this was a really, really bad race. I really got a lot of lactic and I really don't know why. But this is just really, I could not move. I could not get my strides right in the end and it was slow, slow and slower. I don't know why," she said.

Furthermore, Bol expressed her gratitude for the opportunity to perform on the global stage in front of a huge crowd.