"I'm going really as a beginner"- Femke Bol gets real about make major switch of events after massive world championships success in 400m hurdles

Femke Bol expressed that she will enter the 800m track as a beginner despite having achieved success as a professional athlete at the highest level in the 400m hurdles. Bol came fresh off defending her World title in the 400m hurdles event, setting a world-leading time of 51.54s.

Femke Bol has been the second-best after Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone in the hurdles event, having won two bronze medals in the past two Olympic editions. As the anchor leg runner of the 4x400m relay team, the Dutch helped her team to two Olympic and five World Championship podiums. She broke the 400m short track world record as well as the European record, becoming the second woman after McLaughlin-Levrone to break the 51-second mark.

Despite her storied trajectory in the 400m hurdles and flat, the 25-year-old announced that she would shift to the 800m from 2026. In a recent interview with European Athletics, Femke Bol shared that she would compete in the 800m as a beginner, but she wouldn’t lag in terms of experience as a professional at the highest level.

“I think into the event I'm going really as a beginner, because I have no, of course, have a clue about 800m watching it, but I don't have a clue running it. So, in that part, I'm a beginner, but I think I'm not a beginning athlete anymore," she said. (2:26 onwards)

“With the 400m hurdles, I've learned a lot how to be a professional athlete on the highest level, and I think all of those experience I will bring with me towards the 800 but as an 800m runner, I will be a beginner," the Olympian added.

Bol added two more wins to her resume at the 2025 World Championships, winning silver in the 4x400m mixed relay and women's 4x400m relay.

Femke Bol received a special honor after her 2025 World Championships heroics

Bol at the Olympic Games Paris 2024: Day 14 - Source: Getty

Femke Bol’s success on the track earned her the European Athlete of the Year award in the women’s category, making her the first-ever woman to receive the honor three times. She had previously won it in the 2022 and 2023 editions. The official Instagram page of European Athletics shared a glimpse of the award ceremony and wrote:

"The first-ever woman to win European Athlete of the Year three times!"

At the European Indoor Championships this year, she and the 4x400m mixed relay team became the fastest national team of all time in this short track event after they clocked a Championship record time of 3:15.63 min.