The annual indoor track and field competition—Dutch Indoor Athletics Championships—takes place every Dutch winter in February for 2-3 days. Taking third place in the 400m hurdles final at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the Olympic medalist hurdler broke the European mark and became the third-fastest woman in the event’s history. It was a historic occasion as the Netherlands won their first-ever Olympic medal in the field.

While many wondered if she could pull off a similar performance on her home ground, the four-time world champion simply shocked the audience lowering her own record while defending her title at the Dutch Indoor Champs, continuing her win streak.

Olympic medalist returns to make new records

Femke Bol began the season this month with a 49.69 in Metz, but she quickly improved to 49.63 in Lievin and won the heat easily in 50.55 in Apeldoorn on Saturday. Under the thunderous applause of fervent Dutch supporters, Bol—known for her skill in European tournaments—took center stage once again. The Amersfoort native broke her own indoor world record in the 400-meter hurdles. In an X post by @WorldAthletics, the update, “Femke Bol breaks world indoor 400m record with 49.24 in Apeldoorn,” accompanied her win picture.

The post shared Bol’s statement, “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.” Interestingly, one year after shattering Jarmila Kratochvilova’s 40-year-old world indoor 400-meter mark of 49.59 with her historic record of 49.26. Bol returned this year to lower it by an additional 0.2 seconds.

Bol, the two-time world champion in the 400-meter outdoors, raced her sixth career sub-50 run to set the new mark in style. She highlighted, “I never get used to it, especially with all these people cheering on home soil.” Bol’s words of joy reflected the feeling of a dream come true and resonated with the fervent support of the Dutch supporters. Following her was Lieke Klaver, who recorded a personal best time of 50.10, placing her seventh on the global indoor all-time list.

The next competition

At the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow in two weeks, Bol is the clear favorite to win the 400 meters. German Marita Koch established a 400-meter outdoor world record in 1985 with a time of 47.60. Which is now anticipated to be a doable goal for Bol! Meanwhile, after breaking her own record to become the second-fastest indoor performance of the year, Klaver joined as the contender for podium finisher in the upcoming event.

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Although Bol’s goal of breaking the outdoor world record might seem challenging, Klaver’s incredible performance heightens the expectation and establishes the Netherlands as a serious competitor in the world track and field scene. The future of Dutch athletics seems brighter than ever as the squad keeps hitting new records.

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