July 15, (THEWILL) – World champion, Femke Bol, broke the 51-second barrier in the 400m event on Sunday, in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. The Dutch athlete ran 50.95 seconds, smashing her own European record of 51.45. This achievement comes just 12 days before the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
Bol, who finished third in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, is now the second woman to run sub-51 seconds in this event. The world record holder, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone from the United States, set a new world record of 50.65 seconds at the US Olympic trials on June 30.
After winning the European title in Rome in June, Bol expressed excitement about a potential showdown with McLaughlin-Levrone at the upcoming Olympics. The American athlete had taken a two-year break from the event but has returned to competitive form.
The first round of the women’s 400m event in Paris is scheduled for 4 August 2024. Bol stated: “I hope it’s going to be a nice battle! I will try to be at my best form I can and then we will see where it will bring us.”
This sets the stage for an exciting competition at the Paris Olympics, with both Bol and McLaughlin-Levrone in top form.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
