Some athletes are just built to dominate. But when it comes to Femke Bol, she has long since moved past dominating. One might say her winning is just another guarantee now. And if anyone had any doubt, all those amazing victories at Paris 2024 last year just attested to that for all her fans. But when you are this successful, a question arises: what’s next? After all, Femke had already won all there was to win at Paris, right? Well, no, because as it so happens, she might have some big plans for 2025.

In fact, earlier this year, in March 2025, she truly electrified her home crowd at the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn. She anchored the Netherlands to historic wins in both the inaugural mixed and women’s 4x400m relays. Now, as she is stepping into the Rabat leg of the Diamond League, where she is going to challenge the mighty titan Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, she recalls her post-Olympics scenario with Flotrack.

“[wanted to] breathe for a moment, to step outside the bubble and remember that I have a beautiful life beyond sport, too.” After all that intensity in Paris, she needed a moment to breathe. So, why the break? Well, she chose to hit pause for a mental reset. As she put it, “After the Olympics, I wanted a bit more time off mentally—away from really racing and always putting pressure on myself.”

Femke’s a perfectionist, she admits. “When I get close to races, I want everything close to perfect, which is never possible, but I always try.” That drive is what makes her so good, but it also means she needs to step back sometimes. Her bronze in Paris, where she clocked 53.29 seconds against Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone’s astonishing 50.68, just showed how unpredictable top-tier competition can be.

So, how did she get her focus back? Instead of jumping straight into more races, she dove into training. “I really enjoyed this big phase of training, not thinking too much about competing,” she shared. Bol has been grinding through grueling lactic sessions to build strength for 2025. While she opted out of indoor individual events, her “main focus is on hurdles.”

Now, she’s gearing up to face Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone again at Rabat for her first Diamond League outing of the year. With her sights set on the World Championships in Tokyo, the big question is, can Femke Bol challenge McLaughlin-Levrone’s incredible dominance? We’re all excited to see!

Femke is training hard for her future plans

Femke Bol, the Dutch track sensation who holds the European record in the 400m hurdles (50.95 seconds), is all about pushing her limits. After her fantastic showing at Paris 2024, she took a much-needed mental break. Now, she’s back to her intense training. She’s been tackling “a lot of tough training, more endurance-based,” and is now shifting into “more into the hurdles and quality work.”

This means grueling lactic acid sessions and even lifting an impressive 100kg to build strength for the 2025 season. What’s next for Femke? She’s carefully chosen her race schedule, highlighting her excitement for “many of the Diamond Leagues I’ll be racing at.” She’s got back-to-back meets in Monaco and London coming up, both “really nice Diamond League meets.”

She’s also keen on the European Team Championships, calling it “a real team effort.” With her season already kicked off at Rabat on May 25, 2025, and the World Championships in Tokyo on the horizon, everyone’s buzzing to see if she can truly challenge Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone’s reign in the 400m hurdles.