Bol switches to 800m and Hodgkinson ‘can’t wait’

Two-time 400m hurdles world champion Femke Bol has announced she will switch events and compete in the 800m from next year.

Dutch superstar Bol, 25, who successfully defended her world title in Tokyo in September, has also won bronze medals at the past two Olympics in that discipline.

She has also been a world indoor champion in the flat 400m and is a renowned relay athlete, a gold medallist anchor leg runner with the Netherlands’ 4x400m team at Paris 2024.

In 2026, she will move up in distance to an event in which Great Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson is the reigning Olympic champion.

Bol said in a post on Instagram: “It’s a big change, it’s uncertain and challenging, but I’m ready to put in the work, surrounded by an amazing team and enjoy this new journey.”

Bol and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone have dominated the women’s 400m hurdles in recent years.

Between them, they have run the nine fastest times in the history of the event.

American McLaughlin-Levrone won Olympic gold ahead of third-placed Bol at Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024, while Bol has won each of the past five Diamond League annual titles.