"What just happened"- Femke Bol expresses astonishment after becoming the second woman to break the 51s barrier in 400m hurdles

26th European Athletics Championships - Rome 2024: Day Five Femke Bol

Femke Bol was amazed to see her 400m hurdles time stop in 50.95s at the Resisprint La Chaux-de-Fonds meeting in Switzerland. Her effort made her only the second woman to go sub-51s behind the world record holder, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone of America.

Taking to her Instagram stories, Bol shared the clip of her record-breaking moment, originally shared by Resisprint. Her caption asserted that she was mindblown to see the clock stop in a European record-breaking time (50.95s).

"What just happened," her caption read.

Bol executed the third-fastest performance of all time since McLaughlin-Levrone already holds the top two fastest and world record times of 50.68s and 50.65s.

In the Olympic year, Bol set the 400m short track world record by running 49.17s at the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow. In that event, she also anchored the 4x400m short track relay team to victory in 3:225.07 minutes, setting the Dutch record.

Femke Bol opened her 400m hurdles at the Bauhaus-Galan in Stockholm, where she claimed the win in 53.07s. Her effort in the mixed 4x400m relay at the 2024 World Relays set the championship record and qualified the team for the coveted Paris Olympics 2024.

Femke Bol defended her 400m hurdles European title at the 2024 European Championships by clocking a time of 52.49s. She also added the 4x400m relay win and 4x400m mixed bronze to her list of laurels from the same event.

Femke Bol hopes the face-off with Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone would be a 'nice battle'

At the 2023 World Championships, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone was absent due to a niggling knee injury, which granted Bol a scope to sweep the 400m hurdles win. Since then, the rivals have run individual races but never faced each other in the Olympic build-up races.

However, Bol awaits the face-off in Paris.

“I hope it’s going to be a nice battle! I will try to be at my best form I can be and then we will see where it will bring us," Bol said (via Sportstar).

The women's 400m hurdles Round 1 is scheduled on August 4 at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Both Bol and McLaughlin-Levrone will vie for the world record and the Olympic gold.

Edited by Parag Jain