In an exclusive interview with European Athletics, female athlete of the year Femke Bol has offered fresh insight into her surprise switch to the 800m — a move that stunned the athletics world — saying she wanted to make the leap while “I still feel at my best.”
“The switch feels really, really nice, really exciting, also really scary,” she said. “I'm still young. I'm mentally, physically, feeling really fit, and it's, it's a really, really big challenge. That's also why I want to do it while I still feel at my best.
“I also really feel ready for new impulse, new kind of training, new kind of racing, and that makes me really excited.
“I think after the Olympics, you start to re-evaluate everything. Look at the past years, look at the upcoming years. And it was a thought that came to my coach and me at the same time of also wanting to go to the 800m.
“I think it was there sometimes, but I always was so focused on the hurdles that I didn't take a lot of consideration in it, and I think I had a full year to really think about it. And also mentally, I think, say goodbye to my hurdles, and I really feel like it's a good timing.
“I think it's not necessarily for my body, because I think the hurdles are tough on you, but I think the 800m training will also be tough on my body.”
Fulfilled dreams at 400m hurdles
She also reflected on her glittering 400m hurdles career, which brought two world and two European titles.
“I do think I achieved pretty much everything I could dream of on the 400m hurdles, except for Olympic gold,” she said. “I won this with a mixed (relay), but not on the 400m hurdles with that.
“I also think I really achieved amazing time running sub 51 now again, running 51.5, also at world (championships). It's something I'm really proud of, and I think I've just felt ready for a new chapter, to try something it's exciting, it's scary, but it's mostly really exciting for me to try something completely different, and something which also, I think connects with the strength I had on the 400m hurdles.”
Beginner at 800m
On how she sees herself in the 800m given her inexperience, she said: “I think into the event I'm going really as a beginner, because I have no, of course, have a clue about 800m watching it, but I don't have a clue running it. So, in that part, I'm a beginner, but I think I'm not a beginning athlete anymore.
“With the 400m hurdles, I've learned a lot how to be a professional athlete on the highest level, and I think all of those experience I will bring with me towards the 800 but as an 800m runner, I will be a beginner.
“I've never run further than a 600 all out. So, the last 200 is something new territory for me. And of course, I also train lactic in different ways throughout the season, but I really have to do more volume and more new things.
“But yeah, my coach, especially in the team around me, they are pretty sure about what they are doing. They are confident in where it can bring me. So that also makes me confident.”
Keely commends Bol's braveness
Asked about the reaction from Olympic 800m champion Keely Hodgkinson, who also shares her agent, she smiled: “She was just really excited, I think, for me. And she also, yeah, she thought I was brave for taking the step, because the 800m is really packed right now, and we see each other a lot at training camp.
“So yeah, we always go for lunch there. So, I think this time, the lunch will be a bit more. Also, advice about how to run the 800m. And also, because with 400m hurdles, you compete against each other, but all in your own lane, and the 800m will be really against each other.
“I will first need to do some 800m (races) to be able to come next to like the great names. I'm not sure I will get there straight away, but of course, it's my goal to eventually get there, but I think it's fun.
“It will be really a different mindset that I will need heading into a race. It's not my race. People can also have their own ideas. So, I think this is something I'm really excited about and something I'm also really curious about.”
Relay remains possible
The Dutch star has become as renowned for her 4x400m relay heroics as for her individual brilliance — anchoring her nation to 15 major medals since 2021 — and she reassured fans she’ll still take the baton.
“I really want to keep running the relays,” she confirmed. “I think it's also something that's possible to do in combination with the 800m, especially since it's flying, not from the blocks.
“And I think the tactical insights I will get from the eight (800m) can also help on the relay. So I love to relay. I love to run for the country and run with my teammates. So it's something that hopefully will stay on the calendar for me.”
Watch the full interview above, where she also discusses the Birmingham 2026 European Athletics Championships and reflects on the Tokyo World Athletics Championships.