After her previous win in the 400 meters flat at the European Athletics Championships on Friday evening, Femke Bol also won the 400 meters hurdles, her actual specialty. In a time of 52.67 seconds, she beat two Ukrainian athletes, who took the silver and bronze, and outsmarted the rest of the field. That’s a championship record, but not a new personal best.
“I am so happy and maybe also feel a bit of relief,” Bol said immediately afterwards to the NOS about the pressure she already felt top favorite. “I’m not a machine, even though it may seem that way in this tournament.”
Normally, the 400 meters flat and the 400 meters hurdles cannot be combined at major tournaments, but at this European Championship in Munich, the best athletes were allowed to skip the series. Bol seized the opportunity with both hands and is now the first athlete ever to win both numbers at a European Championship.
Also read this column: The giant steps of Femke Bol
Last month, the 22-year-old Amersfoortse won the silver at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene behind the unapproachable American Sydney McLaughlin.
On Saturday, Femke Bol hopes for a third gold medal when she runs the final of the 4×400 meter relay together with Lieke Klaver, among others. Klaver finished fifth in the final of the 200 meters on Friday evening.