by Stuart Weir
This is a piece that I missed on February 8. Stuart Weir wrote a very nice piece on one of our favorites, Femke Bol. Femke ran 1:59.07, then, shut down her indoor season, as she was worried about a small injury. Stuart has written over one million words for RunBlogRun, and we treasure each word and story, as he builds the storytelling on our sport, to a wonderful pitch!
Superbol Sunday
Femke Bol shocked us all a few months ago when she announced that she was moving up from 400H to 800m this year. She ran her first 800m last weekend in Metz, France (Feb. 8) winning in 1:59.07. According to the European Athletics website, the performance places her fifth on this year’s world list and third in Europe – but of course the race was on 8 February and there have not been that many races this year! It was a paced race with the pacemaker completing two laps in 56.66. You can watch the race at https://youtu.be/yAJb9IHCVY8?t=478
Equally you can we sure that she will get better. Don’t be surprised to see her competing for a medal at the 2026 European Championship and the 2027 World Champs.
Femke is a remarkable athlete and I have been privileged to see her run on numerous occasions. One of the most memorable was the 2022 European Championships in Munich when she won the 400, the 400h and the 4X400 hurdles. Sadly there was no mixed 4X400 relay to keep her fully occupied. She told me afterwards: “It’s not likely that I will do it again! It was a really good experience and I enjoyed it a lot. It was a huge challenge and amazing that – together with my whole team – we achieved it. There were some positives that I didn’t have to run relay heats for example and that the timetable had first 400 and then hurdles. But it was a lot, a lot for my body and a lot mentally but I really liked it but I think we see it as a once in a lifetime challenge. It was a very hard challenge, I achieved it and I should be happy and leave it like that!”
She added a work of thanks to the team behind her: “I’m happy that I have good coaches around me to organize it for me. Last year (2021) I raced a lot before the Olympics but this year I’m not doing so many but I trust my coaches and we’ll do whatever they say”.
That Femke is a wonderful athlete, one of the best of her generation, is beyond question. In addition she is such a nice person. I recall bumping into her in Oregon at the 2022 World Championships on the university campus. We were going in the same direction and walked together – a totally relaxed conversation. I have had many mixed zone conversations – always in demand but always willing to chat with that ability to make you feel that you are the only person who’s ever asked her that question.
I had a 1-to-1 interview with her a couple of years ago. People like me often don’t get interviews with people like her so I asked her why. Her reply was “I’ve seen you a lot. And I know you now. You’re always around and I think that’s really nice because you understand the sport. You are a lot into the sport. For me it’s also nice to talk to someone like that. I think you asked really kindly to Caroline (agent) and didn’t push her like ‘we must do it now’ – because you stayed polite and patient”.
A brilliant athlete and a lovely person.
