European Athletics Indoor Championships - Day Four - Source: Getty — Femke Bol shares her feeling on recording seasonal best timing at Rabat Diamond League [Image Source : Getty]

"Lactic hit hard"- Femke Bol makes feelings known on clocking second fastest time of the year after Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone

Modified May 26, 2025 02:58 GMT

Femke Bol began her Diamond League season with a bang. The Dutch hurdler recorded the second fastest time of the year in the women's 400m hurdles event at the Rabat Diamond League, held in Morocco.

Bol clocked a new meet record of 52.46 seconds, which is her seasonal best performance for 2025. This is also the second fastest timing for women's 400m hurdles in 2025 after world record holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone previously ran 52.07 seconds at the Grand Slam Track meet held in Miami in early May.

The Dutch hurdler shared her reaction after opening her Diamond League season on a winning note. She mentioned in a conversation with FloTrack,

"I'm really happy. The first race, I often don't look much at the time. But starting in 52.4, it's really nice, so I'm happy about it."

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Bol explained how the first race went exactly as she expected. She further added,

"I think my race execution was fine. I did this race like we wanted it to. Lactic hit hard, but it's always like this the first one so I know the first time it's hard, the next time it gets a little bit easier."

Femke Bol is not competing at the coveted Grand Slam Track league. She will be aiming to defend her gold medal at the Tokyo World Championships, which shall be held in September 2025.

Femke Bol talks about Team Netherlands' unique Olympic feat in Paris

Femke Bol celebrating after the women's 4x400m relay final at the Paris Olympics [Image Source: Getty]

Femke Bol revealed her thoughts on the Dutch team's unique achievements at the Paris Olympics, especially in the mixed relay event, where Bol snatched the gold medal from the hands of Team USA with a spirited performance in the anchor leg.

This was unthinkable since the American team had broken the world record for the mixed relay event only a couple of days ago. In the Open Kaart podcast, Bol talked about this event, where she mentioned,

"I just went for it. We just wanted a medal this time. We didn't want a time. ... We just wanted a medal. And, well, we got gold, so we're Olympic champions. It's absolutely crazy for a small country like us."

Femke Bol improved significantly from her performance at the Tokyo Olympics. Though the 25-year-old hurdler aimed to give tough competition to Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, she couldn't live up to the momentum in the final 100 meters of the 400m hurdles finals and had to settle for the bronze medal yet again. However, Bol recovered quickly to deliver a respectable silver medal for Team Netherlands in the women's 4x400m relay finals.

About the author

Animesh Pandey is a seasoned content writer at Sportskeeda with over eight years of experience, having previously worked as an intern for Follow Your Sport before joining SK as a columnist in 2017. A graduate with a Bachelor of Commerce in Marketing, he also worked at TFI Media Private Limited and contributed as an intern for the movie website Nettv4u.

He has extensively covered events from World Championships to the Olympics, providing insights and analyses that resonate with his audience. His belief in mastering the basics and delivering accurate, relevant, and ethical information through thorough research is reflected in his work.

He was notably invited to the National Sports and Adventure Awards 2018 at Rashtrapati Bhavan after winning a MyGov quiz on Indian Sports, where he engaged with celebrated athletes such as Rahi Sarnobat, Hima Das, Jinson Johnson, Saikhom Mirabai Chanu, and Subedar Neeraj Chopra, who also happens to be his favorite Olympian.

Despite being a field hockey enthusiast, Animesh's most cherished Olympic moments include Wayde Van Niekerk's unexpected world record in the 400 meters at Rio and Chopra's historic gold medal in Tokyo.

When not immersed in writing or watching the Olympics, Animesh indulges in his love for movies, embracing quality cinema regardless of the language.

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