"It's not at all what I wanted" - Femke Bol gets emotional as she speaks on her 400m hurdles final at the Paris Olympics

By Adityan Pillai

Modified Aug 09, 2024 11:20 GMT

Femke Bol got emotional as she spoke about her 400m hurdles race at the Paris Olympics. The Dutch athlete clocked 52.15s to win the bronze medal in the event.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone won the gold medal after putting forward a dominant performance and shattering the world record with the time of 50.37s, thereby successfully defending her Olympic title. American athlete Anna Cockrell took home the silver medal with a personal best performance of 51.87s.

After incredible performances in the indoor and outdoor season of 2024 ahead of the Olympics, Femke Bol, who clocked a season-best of 50.95s, was considered one of the top athletes to challenge Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone. However, the 24-year-old could not hold on to her pace in the final stretch of the race due to lactate accumulation.

Femke Bol got emotional as she expressed her disappointment in her performance in a post-race interview.

"No, It's not at all what I wanted. I still took bronze, so this is something special for me that I could defend, but, I wanted my best race but if it had been my best race, I would be happy. But this was a really, really bad race. I really got a lot of lactic and I really don't know why. But this is just really, I could not move. I could not get my strides right in the end and it was slow, slow and slower. I don't know why," she said.

Furthermore, she expressed her desire to run the relay and put forward her best effort.

"Yeah, we are already Olympic Champions (Mixed 4x400m Relay). I will try my best there again. I cannot complain too much. In a full stadium, it is amazing to do it like this and I really enjoyed it, but I am not happy with the way the race went,"she added.

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Femke Bol on facing Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone in major events

World Athletics Championships Oregon22 - Day Eight"World Athletics Championships Oregon22" - Source: Getty

Femke Bol spoke about competing against the best in an interview at the World Athletics Indoor Championships 2024 held in March. The Dutch athlete expressed her desire to compete against the world record holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone.

"I love competing, I love to race. I love to compete against the best. It's always amazing to race with Sydney (McLaughlin-Levrone) because she is the best-ever in hurdles," she said.

Bol will now be in action in the finals of the women's 4x400m relay at the Paris Olympics scheduled to be held on August 10, 2024, at 3:14 pm ET.