Femke Broeders-Bol is due to contest the first outdoor 800m of her career at the Golden Spike in Ostrava, a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting, on 16 June.
Broeders-Bol made a promising debut at her newfound distance, setting a national indoor record of 1:59.07 to become the first Dutchwoman to break the 2:00-barrier indoors before a foot injury forced her to miss the remainder of the indoor season.
This will be Broeders-Bol’s first race at any distance in just over four months. She is also due to race just five days later on home soil at the FBK Games in Hengelo on 21 June.
The three-time European Athlete of the Year, who announced her move to the 800m shortly after winning her second world title in the 400m hurdles last September, has achieved two victories in Ostrava, both times over the seldom contested distance of the 300m hurdles.
Broeders-Bol won on her debut on this track in 2020 in 38.55 before returning to win two years later in a world best of 36.86.
Bol-Broeders set a Dutch indoor record in her first race at the distance although the Dutch outdoor 800m record will be a much tougher assignment. The mark still belongs to Ellen Van Langen who won the 1992 Olympic title in Barcelona in a still-standing national record of 1:55.54.
Broeders-Bol joins an illustrious cast in Ostrava which also includes world indoor champions Lurdes Gloria Manuel (400m) and Jakub Szymanski (110m hurdles), world indoor and outdoor pole vault medallist Emmanouil Karalis and reigning European high jump champion Gianmarco Tamberi.
