With three years to go until the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, Femke Bol, the reigning World champion at 400m hurdles, has decided to switch and focus on the 800 meters, starting in 2026.

“We have decided that I will make the 800m my main event for the next years,” Bol told a small group of select media, including CITIUS MAG. “It’s a really nice challenge. I think it’s something that we’ve had in our minds for a long time. For me, it was after Paris that it came to our mind that I’m now 25 and I want to achieve more in track and field. The 400m hurdles has evolved me so much. It’s really made me the athlete I am today. It also gave me the confidence to dare to make this step. The 800m has always been an event I love to watch. It looks really hard, but I also love to watch it. I really want to try to test my limits and push my limits in this event.”

Bol closes the chapter on the 400m hurdles as arguably the second-best athlete ever in the event, behind two-time Olympic champion and world record holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone. Whereas McLaughlin-Levrone has taken two of the last three seasons to focus more on the 400m, Bol has been all-in on the 400m hurdles since 2019. She has two Olympic bronze medals (2021 & 2024), two World Championship gold medals (2023 & 2025), and two European Championship gold medals (2022 and 2024) in the event. Her 50.95 personal best is the European record and makes her the second-fastest woman of all-time.

“I think I’m really proud of everything I achieved in the 400m hurdles,” Bol says. “Dreams I didn’t think I could have became a reality, which is something crazy to think about. I will still love the 400m hurdles but I’m really fulfilled with what I have achieved. Although it’s a risk, because I know the level that I am and I know how to run a good 400m hurdles and I have no clue for the 800m, I feel way more insecure for this season than any other season, I think I’m at my best and that’s why I want to make the transition now and when I’m losing something in the hurdles. I’m also mentally fresh to do it. It fuels me from the 400m hurdles because I know what I’ve left behind. I also want to do great in the 800m but it’s a risk I want to take.”

Bol is heading into the 800m at a time when the event has started to see performances as fast as the 1980s, an era closely associated with doping scandals and suspicion. Kenya’s Lilian Odira broke the World Championship record with her 1:54.62 gold medal performance in Tokyo and moved to No. 7 on the all-time list. Olympic champion and British superstar Keely Hodgkinson, who came away with World bronze in Tokyo, ran 1:54.61 in 2024 to move to No. 6 on the all-time list and closes out 2025 as the fastest woman of the year with 1:54.74. Her compatriot and training partner, Georgia Hunter Bell, earned a silver medal in 1:54.90 and now sits at No. 9 on the all-time list.

Bol is embracing the challenge. She will continue to work under coach Laurent Meuwly with the same training group.

“I hope to be back at the highest level,” she says. “I don’t know how fast it will be. I don’t know if it will be possible but we will try everything in our power to get there. I also hope to be back there and being with the best. Running against the best is what I love. I don’t know how quickly I will get there or if I will get there, but I know we will try our best.”

The Dutch national record is 1:55.54, run by Ellen van Langen when she won Olympic gold in 1992.

The longest interval that Bol has run in training is a 600m indoors, where she ran all-out in 1:23 all alone, her coach tells CITIUS MAG. The world record for 600m indoors is 1:23.41, set by Hodgkinson in 2023. Bol also says her 800m PB is 2:19.51 from an indoor race in 2017.

Bol confirmed to CITIUS MAG that she is not intending to use the reigning World champion wild card to compete in the 400m hurdles at the World Ultimate Championships. She also has the bye for the 2027 World Championships in Beijing. Bol and Meuwly will assess her progress before deciding what events she could contest at the 2026 World Indoor Championships, which are set to take place in Toruń, Poland, from March 20th to 22nd. The European Athletics Championships are also on the table next August at Alexander Stadium in Birmingham, United Kingdom.

Bol has also been one of the Netherlands’s most reliable 4x400m relay legs and has five global medals in the women’s and mixed relay over the years. Her availability on the relays will depend on each championships’ timetable.

“The relay is really important to me and I also get a lot of joy out of it,” Bol says. “It’s a point of pride to run for your country and run with the girls or with the guys on the mixed relay and try our best. We really established ourselves on the podium as a relay country. Whenever the schedule allows, I would like to run it.”

Historical Context Of A 400m Hurdler Moving To The 800m

Perhaps the most accomplished 400m hurdlers to also attempt to run the 800m are 2012 Olympic champion Lashinda Demus, who ran 52.47 for the 400m hurdles and then 2:07.49 for the 800m, or Russia’s Irina Privalova, who ran 53.02 at the 2000 Olympics and ran 2:09.40 for 800m three years later. 1986 European champion Marina Stepanova went from the 800m to the 400m hurdles with a hand-timed 1:59.8 in 1980 to a 52.94 for the 400m hurdles six years later.

Most recently, 2023 World championship silver medalist Shamier Little, who boasts a 52.39 PB for the 400m hurdles, has run 2:04.39 for 800m. Heptathlon world champion Anna Hall has run 54.42 for 400m hurdles and 2:01:23.

Another rising star to take note of as a dual threat in both events could be 17-year-old Natalie Dumas, a high school senior out of New Jersey, who ran 55.99 for the 400m hurdles, 51.14 for 400m and 2:00.11 for 800m at the New Balance Nationals Outdoor meet in June.

When Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone was asked in the mixed zone at the World Championships if she would consider running the 800m, she said, “No comment” and laughed off the question.

Another notable comparison could also be Jarmila Kratochvílová’s 1982 season where she ran 49.59 for 400m indoors and then 1:56.59 for 800m outdoors. (Bol has run 49.17 indoors.) A year later, she ran the still-standing 1:53.28 800m world record. Of Bol’s new competitors in the 800m, 2023 World champion Mary Moraa has run 50.38 for 400m and 1:56.03 for 800 meters. Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson has run 51.61 for 400m and 1:54.61 for 800m.

Meuwly is bullish on Bol’s ability to make the chance. “That’s the big opportunity,” he said. “When I look at this challenge and I hear some athletes who are running 51 seconds on the 400 saying, 'Oh, that's a good pace to open a fast 800 and you are comfortable opening 55 in 56.' Imagine someone who is running 49 indoors. I see it as a big chance and that no one with those qualities has made this switch… Usually, it's people who are average in one event or changing. To another one because they think, "Okay, I don't have the speed for this event. So maybe I'll go to something longer.' So our case is not the usual case.”

Here are some additional details shared in the closed press conference with Bol and Meuwly:

On the decision:

Laurent Meuwly: “For me, I’m always thinking a bit ahead and always had this as a possibility. From a coach's perspective, it’s a really nice challenge. It requires some courage and ambition to go in this direction. But, it’s not a completely crazy decision. As a coach, you’re not bringing an athlete who did everything to win for years in her event to something where the risk would be big to fail. I can see in training and I can see in her qualities everything to become a successful 800m runner. We’re excited, curious, but also we have a lot of respect for the challenge.

“It’s going to require some time to prepare and adapt. If I look at her strength, for a sprinter, Femke has very good endurance and a very efficient stride. She’s resilient and likes to train a lot and hard. That’s why I’m not afraid of this change. It’s going to take time… We want to take it seriously. We’ll need to prepare a good base during the winter. We are also considering also doing some other events along the way to prepare for it. It’s a serious change… We want to do it with ambition and not just to try a bit and already have an exit door open. That doesn’t mean she will do another event that she did so far but we’re going all-in.

On the timing of the decision:

Femke Bol: “I think after the Olympics, the first meet was Lausanne and I sat down together with Laurent to reflect a bit on how the Olympics were. I’m not sure if it was a coincidence but we both came up with the idea of maybe going to the 800m. We then discussed when I would do it. On one hand, I got butterflies thinking I wanted to switch straight away but I also started thinking that I needed to let my emotions calm down a bit. It’s such a big step. I really wanted to think about it. We decided I would take this whole year to think about it but also a bit to have closure with my hurdles and have a last year knowing it’s my last year… We’ve known pretty much this whole season that it would be my last season.”

On how much she’ll still hurdle:

Bol: “I just don’t like the 400m outdoor as much as I like the 400m hurdles. I think the tactical aspect of the 800m is also something that challenges me a lot, which I like about it also—or I think I will like. I will miss my hurdles. I love the hurdles but I also think I love challenges. I love to push myself. I hope I can still do some hurdle drills sometimes just for fun.”

Meuwly: “She’s going to the 800m with her strength and her qualities. Of course, being a fast sprinter with a 49 indoors for 400m, she needs to keep those qualities and bring them into the new event. Obviously, we’re going to keep doing a lot of things that we were doing before and to be able to have a good coordination, relaxation and mobility from the hurdles—this is something that we will continue to do. If I look at the usual 800m runners, they are lacking a lot of this coordination and those qualities… It’s not going to be the same amount and it’s not going to stay as high in the priorities but it’s going to stay in the program. We are not going to do a 400m hurdles in May to prepare for the 800m. That’s not going to happen. The 400m hurdles chapter is closed for now.”

Bol: “I’m also a bit tunnel-visioned sometimes. So the moment I am focusing on hurdles, I’m all in on hurdles. Now that I’m focused on the 800m, I will be all-in for the 800m. I don’t want to do half. It’s an option but I don’t think it will bring me in one of the two to the level I can be at. So it’s all-in on the 800m now.”

On whether she considered moving to the 400m

Bol: “I think I always thought about season 2026—when there was only European Championships that year—like, the 100m hurdles to work on my technique. We also spoke about the 400m but the training I dislike the most is speed. With the 400m, that would be one of the points that I’d have to train more for and focus on more. With the 400m, I like it but something in me doesn’t get super excited about it like the 400m hurdles or like when we talked about the 800m. It’s hard to put in words… I just had butterflies in my stomach and when I know I have something like that, it will fuel me with passion to go into something all-in.”

On defining success in the 800m:

Bol: “I think it’s all about the process toward it. You never know how it will go. You never know what will happen. For me, it’s really important to go all-in for this. I know Laurent and the whole team will also do this… I’m also not 100% I can do it. I think Laurent is a bit more sure. I’m always doubting myself a bit. (Laughs) I will try everything in my power to get there among them.”

Meuwly: “She’s a competitor. She’s not going to the 800m to be a participant at the Olympics. I think there are two aspects to the 800m that are different than the 400m hurdles. The easiest is going to be to run fast. This is not the problem; you need to train the right way, pace it right, have the right race and at one point, she’s going to run very fast. This I’m sure. But then, you need to be able to be competitive in the championship. Sometimes it happens like it was now (in Tokyo) with a fast race and if you are well prepared, you have good chances. But there are also a lot of tactical races on the way to the final.

“This is going to be another longer learning process. I’m not afraid of her being competitive quickly by running fast. Winning, battling for medals, qualifying for finals is something that takes a bit longer. We are going to define success on one hand by improving and seeing that we are doing the right things to get there. Of course, when she’s there, the goal is going to be to battle with the best. We have three years on the way to Los Angeles and that gives quite some time to give some experiences and in 2028 to be ready to battle for the medals.

On Meuwly’s coaching experience with the 800m:

Meuwly: “I’ve been training 800m athletes. One ran sub-2:00… that’s almost 10 years ago. With one of her teammates, we did some more specific preparation. She still competed in the 400m but she did some 800m races in the first part of the season. It was Eveline Saalberg (400m PB of 50.95 / 800m PB of 2:02.97). I'm speaking with colleagues and specialists about the latest trends, the physiology is something which is not changing and I've been doing it already.

“I think you also need to know the athletes, and it’s now six or seven years that we are working together. I got to know Femke really well and I think this is going to help also a lot to make the transition and to gain some time in this process. First of all, we don't want to lose her qualities. That's what we did so far. And how she's reacting to different kinds of training is also important in the transition to a different event. So there will also be some refreshments, some learnings—especially in the race preparation and the tactical part. And that's why the challenge is exciting for both of us.”

On Bol’s expected training changes:

Meuwly: “We shortened the offseason a little bit to stay active because I don’t want her to go from 0 to 100 in terms of running so we started easy. I think it’s easy. She doesn’t think it’s easy. We started to move already even though the official start is in 10 days. It’s just to avoid lower leg injuries or overload. The aerobic part is going to be the biggest challenge and where we’re going to put more of a focus. I’m going to have to tell her to run slower and focus on doing more and more volume—and not running faster and faster. That’s difficult when you’ve always wanted to run for years as fast as possible. This is going to be the challenge. And the other challenge is to keep her qualities high.

“When I give clinics abroad about our training philosophy and how we train for the 400m, people are looking at me and thinking, ‘Why are you running so much?’ I think if we look at other 400m runners or 400m hurdlers, we are already running more. We are on the low side of what 800m runners are doing but it’s not going to be that much of a difference. We are not going to go for 50-minutes, continuous running. We’re going to do mostly cross training on the bike, cross trainer and elliptical to increase the volume and to keep the running for some more specific sessions. She’s not going to run a lot for an 800m runner because obviously speed and lactic capacity remains her strength.”

Keep up with all things track and field by following us across Instagram, X, Threads, and YouTube. Catch the latest episodes of the CITIUS MAG Podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. For more, subscribe to The Lap Count and CITIUS MAG Newsletter for the top running news delivered straight to your inbox.