Femke Bol ran the last leg for the Netherlands in the mixed 4×400-meter relay final at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest, on August 19 (the official results give “19 AUG 2023 21:49”). “Handed the baton with a narrow lead, the world 400m hurdles silver medallist could not bring it home as the USA’s Alexis Holmes moved up to challenge her over the final 50 metres,” World Athletics reported: “the Netherlands’ world indoor 400m record-holder Femke Bol hit the deck three strides from home while appearing on the brink of anchoring her team to victory.”
“I do not know what happened,” Bol said. “It has never happened to me before. I cramped towards the finish line.” The results list the Netherlands as “DNF.” The USA won, “improving their own world record to 3:08.80,” and, as World Athletics recalled a year later, “the Netherlands failed to make the podium as Great Britain and the Czech Republic ran past Bol’s crash.”
“Six days after her face-down fall five metres short of earning mixed 4x400m gold for the Netherlands, Femke Bol rose to the challenge in her signature event of the 400m hurdles, earning her first global gold in splendid isolation,” World Athletics wrote on August 24; “she finished in 51.70, more than a second clear.” On the last night, August 27, she “produced the reverse effect in the final track race as her astounding finish earned women’s 4x400m gold for the Netherlands.” She “took over the baton on the last leg a couple of metres behind the Jamaican and British last-leg runners, Stacey Ann Williams and Nicole Yeargin,” and “by the back straight the gap between her and the leader was about 10 metres.” “She duly passed Yeargin 30 metres from the line,” World Athletics says, before “overtaking Williams in the final two strides.” The results give the Netherlands “3:20.72 WL” and Jamaica “3:20.88 SB”: gold by 0.16 seconds.
A year later, on August 3, 2024, she anchored the Netherlands in the Olympic mixed 4×400-meter final in Paris. The Associated Press describes her entering “the final turn of the 4x400-meter mixed relay in fourth position under a downpour”; World Athletics: “Yet Bol would not be denied amid falling rain inside Stade de France.” “The tall Dutch athlete was a scintillating sight as she took the Netherlands from a fighting fourth and up into first place,” Athletics Weekly says: “she ran down firstly Naomi van Den Broeck of Belgium, then Amber Anning of Great Britain and Northern Ireland” … “before finally overhauling Kaylyn Brown of the United States.” “One by one, Bol passed the Belgian, British and American runners who were ahead of her,” the AP says, and “Bol passed Brown with about 10 meters to go.”
The Netherlands won in “3:07.43 AR,” the official results say. “Femke Bol led a Netherlands comeback that ended in a gold medal in the mixed 4x400m relay at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games,” World Athletics says, and the AP adds that “this was the first Olympic gold of her career.” “Bol called the victory redemption for the 2023 World Championships when she fell in the final five metres.” In her words: “I channelled my anger from Budapest.”
Fact check
The facts and where they come from
- She was leading a world final, three strides from the line, but she fell. World Athletics: “the Netherlands’ world indoor 400m record-holder Femke Bol hit the deck three strides from home while appearing on the brink of anchoring her team to victory.” Wikipedia: “Femke Bol of the Netherlands was in first position, but fell five metres before the finish line, dropping her baton.” 111
- Her name is Femke Bol. World Athletics: “Femke Bol rose to the challenge in her signature event of the 400m hurdles.” 2
- In Budapest, she ran the last lap of the mixed relay. World Athletics results: the final, “19 AUG 2023 21:49,” with the Netherlands listed. World Athletics: “won the mixed 4x400m world title here tonight at the World Athletics Championships Budapest 23” … Bol “on the brink of anchoring her team to victory.” 71
- She took the baton in the lead, but an American was closing. World Athletics: “Handed the baton with a narrow lead, the world 400m hurdles silver medallist could not bring it home as the USA’s Alexis Holmes moved up to challenge her over the final 50 metres.” 1
- Then she cramped, and crashed face down. World Athletics: “‘I do not know what happened,’ Bol said. ‘It has never happened to me before. I cramped towards the finish line.’” World Athletics, after the women’s relay: “Femke Bol, who fell face-down a couple of metres short of securing Dutch victory in the mixed 4x400m.” 13
- Her team didn’t finish. World Athletics results: “NED Netherlands … DNF.” World Athletics, 2024: “the Netherlands failed to make the podium as Great Britain and the Czech Republic ran past Bol’s crash.” World Athletics, 2023: the USA won, “improving their own world record to 3:08.80.” 741
- Days later, she won the 400-meter hurdles. World Athletics: “Six days after her face-down fall five metres short of earning mixed 4x400m gold for the Netherlands, Femke Bol rose to the challenge in her signature event of the 400m hurdles, earning her first global gold in splendid isolation” … “she finished in 51.70, more than a second clear.” World Athletics results: “24 AUG 2023 21:50,” “1 … Femke BOL NED 51.70.” 28
- The last race was the women’s relay final. World Athletics: she “produced the reverse effect in the final track race as her astounding finish earned women’s 4x400m gold for the Netherlands.” World Athletics results: “27 AUG 2023 21:50”; the championships ran “19 AUG 2023 - 27 AUG 2023.” 39
- She got the baton behind Jamaica and Britain. World Athletics: she “took over the baton on the last leg a couple of metres behind the Jamaican and British last-leg runners, Stacey Ann Williams and Nicole Yeargin.” 3
- By the back straight, she was about 10 meters down. World Athletics: “by the back straight the gap between her and the leader was about 10 metres.” 3
- She passed Britain 30 meters from the line. World Athletics: “She duly passed Yeargin 30 metres from the line.” 3
- Then she caught Jamaica in the final two strides. World Athletics: “before sending the decibel level up still further by overtaking Williams in the final two strides.” 3
- Gold, by 16 hundredths of a second. World Athletics results: “NED Netherlands … 3:20.72 WL” and “JAM Jamaica … 3:20.88 SB” (3:20.88 − 3:20.72 = 0.16 seconds). World Athletics: “to bring the baton home in 3:20.72. Jamaica took silver in 3:20.88.” 93
- A year later, at the Paris Olympics, she ran the mixed relay again. World Athletics results: “03 AUG 2024 20:55,” “Netherlands NED 3:07.43 AR.” World Athletics: “Bol called the victory redemption for the 2023 World Championships when she fell in the final five metres.” 104
- In the rain, she took the baton in fourth. World Athletics: “Yet Bol would not be denied amid falling rain inside Stade de France.” Athletics Weekly: “The tall Dutch athlete was a scintillating sight as she took the Netherlands from a fighting fourth and up into first place.” Associated Press: “When Dutch sprinter Femke Bol entered the final turn of the 4x400-meter mixed relay in fourth position under a downpour.” 465
- She ran down Belgium, Britain, then America. Associated Press: “One by one, Bol passed the Belgian, British and American runners who were ahead of her” and “Bol passed Brown with about 10 meters to go.” Athletics Weekly: “she ran down firstly Naomi van Den Broeck of Belgium, then Amber Anning of Great Britain and Northern Ireland” … “before finally overhauling Kaylyn Brown of the United States.” 56
- The race that broke her made her Olympic champion. World Athletics: “Femke Bol led a Netherlands comeback that ended in a gold medal in the mixed 4x400m relay at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.” Associated Press: “this was the first Olympic gold of her career.” 45
Sources
- Report: mixed 4x400m final, World Championships Budapest 23 (Mike Rowbottom, August 19, 2023) World Athletics
- Report: women’s 400m hurdles final, World Championships Budapest 23 (Mike Rowbottom, August 24, 2023) World Athletics
- Report: women’s 4x400m final, World Championships Budapest 23 (Mike Rowbottom, August 27, 2023) World Athletics
- Report: Paris 2024 Olympics, mixed 4x400m relay (Andrew Greif, August 3, 2024) World Athletics
- Femke Bol puts on a show in the 4×400 mixed relay to reel in US and earn Netherlands Olympic gold (Associated Press, Andrew Dampf, August 3, 2024) NBC 6 South Florida
- Femke Bol’s amazing anchor seals mixed relay gold for Netherlands (Jason Henderson, August 3, 2024) Athletics Weekly
- Results: mixed 4×400-meter relay final, World Championships Budapest 2023 World Athletics
- Results: women’s 400-meter hurdles final, World Championships Budapest 2023 World Athletics
- Results: women’s 4×400-meter relay final, World Championships Budapest 2023 World Athletics
- Results: mixed 4×400-meter relay final, Olympic Games Paris 2024 World Athletics
- 2023 World Athletics Championships – Mixed 4 × 400 metres relay Wikipedia
Notes
“They laughed at her,” as one popular retelling puts it, is not supported by any source we read, so it is left out of the Short and this page.
How far from the line she fell: World Athletics says “three strides from home” in its mixed relay report, “five metres short” in its 400 m hurdles report and “a couple of metres short” in its women’s relay report; Wikipedia says five meters. The Short uses the race report’s own words, “three strides,” and our headline says only “just strides.”
Was she leading? World Athletics (“a narrow lead”) and Wikipedia (“first position”) say yes. The Associated Press’s Paris story says she fell “where she was making up ground on the U.S.,” which contradicts the race report; we follow World Athletics. “She cramped” is her own explanation, and no other medical detail is given or guessed.
“Days later”: World Athletics writes “Six days after,” counting the days of the championships, but by the calendar the 400 m hurdles final (August 24) was five days after the fall (August 19). The Short says only “days later.” “The last race”: World Athletics calls the women’s 4×400 meters “the final track race”; field events are not counted.
Not the same team: the Budapest mixed team was Liemarvin Bonevacia, Lieke Klaver, Isaya Klein Ikkink and Bol; in Paris it was Eugene Omalla, Klaver, Klein Ikkink and Bol (World Athletics). The Short claims no team continuity.
Paris: Athletics Weekly and Wikipedia say she started her leg in fourth; the AP says she was fourth entering the final turn. Both fit “took the baton in fourth.” Her split, 48.00 (World Athletics) or 47.93 (AP, Athletics Weekly), is not used. Alexis Holmes is named only as the runner who challenged her, as World Athletics reports.
Femke Bol is alive and still competing. Nothing here goes into her private life, her health beyond her own published “I cramped,” or money; the quotes are hers, published by World Athletics.
Pictures: no photo here shows either mixed relay final. Femke Bol herself is in Filip Bossuyt’s photos from Budapest 2023: the 400 m hurdles heats (August 21) and final (August 24, two frames), and three frames of the women’s 4×400-meter final on August 27, with the baton, running between Jamaica’s Stacey Ann Williams ahead and Britain’s Nicole Yeargin behind, and at the finish. Elekes Andor photographed the stadium at night from the stands and the Dutch women’s relay team with their flags, both on August 27, 2023. Bol is also in Sandro Halank’s photos from the European Championships in Munich on August 19, 2022, on the Stade de France track before her 400 m hurdles semifinal on August 6, 2024, finishing the 400 m hurdles at the Kamila Skolimowska Memorial in Chorzów on August 25, 2024, and in the 400 m hurdles final at the World Championships in Tokyo on September 19, 2025. The National Athletics Centre in Budapest is seen from the MOL Campus tower in May 2023 and at sunset in January 2025. The Stade de France photos are from August 2, 2024, the day before the Paris final; the runners on the bend are in the mixed relay heats, which Bol did not run.
Photo credits
The archive photos in this story
The photographs and illustrations in this story are in the public domain or shared under open licenses; each one is credited below with its license. Tap one to enlarge it, or follow the link to its Wikimedia Commons page for the full record. The narration, captions and graphics in the Short are our own; its music and sound effects are credited below.
Music and sound effects
Music: Beethoven, Coriolan Overture, Op. 62 (Musopen Symphony Orchestra, CC0); Brahms, Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 73: IV. Allegro con spirito (Musopen Symphony Orchestra, CC0); Brahms, Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68: IV. Adagio - Piu andante - Allegro non troppo, ma con brio (Musopen Symphony Orchestra, CC0).
Sound effects: Freesound, CC0.
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