Femke Bol pays tribute to Churandy Martina following the Dutch Olympian's retirement

By Janhavi Shinde

Modified Nov 17, 2024 04:34 GMT

In a heartfelt tribute, Femke Bol recently praised Churandy Martina following his retirement from athletics, acknowledging his immense impact on Dutch track and field. Martina gracefully hanged his spikes after representing Netherlands at the Olympics for six times.

The 40-year-old made his Olympic debut at the 2004 Athens Games, competing in the 100m after acting as the country's flag bearer. He was placed third in the heat round but fell short of continuing his quest past the quarterfinal round after placing in seventh position, clocking a time of 10.24 seconds.

He again earned the honor of bearing the country's flag at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. After setting a national record in the 100m with 9.99 seconds, he went on to grab a place in the final round to compete against the legendary sprinter Usain Bolt. Martina narrowly missed out a podium finish after finishing in fourth place with 9.93 seconds, surpassing his previous national record.

At the same Olympics, Martina made waves after finishing behind Bolt in the 200m. However, the Dutch sprinter was later refrained from the victory, citing lane infringement and the medal was passed to American sprinter Shawn Crawford. Later, the in August 2008, Crawford handed over the medal to Martina.

The Dutch sprinter later went on to represent the nation at the 2012 London, 2016 Rio, 2020 Tokyo, and 2024 Paris Games. To honor his legacy, Bol reshared a video tribute given by the Dutch Athletics Federation to the six-time Olympian and wrote:

"What a career @martina200m."

Screenshot of Femke Bol's Instagram story.

Femke Bol gets surpassed by Siffan Hassan in earning the 2024 Dutch athlete of the year

Femke Bol of the Netherlands winner of the bronze medal during the medal ceremony after competing in the Women's 400m Hurdles Final during the Olympic Games 2024 at Stade de France in Paris, France. (Image Source: Getty)

Femke Bol showed her incredible skills at the 2024 Paris Games after securing three medals at the Games, including a bronze medal in the 400m hurdles event, following Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Anna Cockrell.

She contributed in the team's efforts to bag a gold medal in the mixed 4x400m relay and a silver medal in the women's 4x400m relay by running the anchor leg in both events.

However, her feats were overshadowed to be declared as the winner of the 2024 Dutch athlete of the year by her fellow teammate Siffan Hassan, who displayed an impressive run, bagging a gold in marathon, and two bronze medals in th 5000m and 10,000m, respectively.