Femke Bol (pronounced [ˈfɛmkə ˈbɔl] ⓘ; born 23 February 2000) is a Dutch track and field athlete who competes in hurdling and sprinting.

[12] As a child, Bol practised judo for a year after she had broken her arm twice and her doctor had recommended the sport to help her learn how to fall.

Competing against athletes up to two years her senior, Bol did not advance from the 400 m heats at the 2015 European Youth Olympic Festival in Tbilisi, Georgia.

[3] In October, at the Doha World Championships in Qatar, the 19-year-old reached the semi-finals with a new personal best of 55.32 s in the heats of the 400 m hurdles, becoming the second-fastest European U20 woman in history.

[5] Bol was forced to train on gravel paths in the woods and on grass fields when COVID-19 quarantine measures were first enacted in March 2020.

First she stayed ahead of all her competitors in Székesfehérvár, Hungary on 19 August, to repeat this achievement four days later at the Stockholm Bauhaus-galan winning her first Diamond race.

The previous record was set a few minutes earlier by Lieke Klaver, who in turn broke Ester Goossens' mark which had stood at 51.82 s since 1998.

She then started improving her own Dutch hurdling record when winning Diamond League meetings, beginning with a time of 53.44 s on 10 June in Florence.

[37] At the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics in July and August 2021, Bol ran six 400 m races with hurdles and flat, including three under 50 seconds relay legs.

While still in Switzerland, on 14 September, she ended her breakthrough season with another meet record in Bellinzona, staying unbeaten in 11 of her 12 hurdles races in 2021.

[47] In 2021, Bol gradually improved her personal bests, setting eleven national records with five more as a member of relay teams.

[56][57][47] She went under 53 seconds in the 400 m hurdles four times that season, had an individual win-loss record of 16–4, and was voted European Athletics Rising Star of the Year.

[59][60] At the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade about three weeks later, Bol won the silver medal, after she fell at the finish line during the semi-finals, in a time of 50.57 s behind Miller-Uibo who ran 50.31 s.[61] Bol also anchored the Dutch women's 4 × 400 m relay to silver thanks to her closing surge from fourth into second, with the fastest split of the race of 50.26 s.[62][63] The 22-year-old started her outdoor season on 31 May at the Golden Spike meeting in Ostrava, where she ran a world best over the 300 m hurdles.

[71][72] She rounded off her Munich campaign by producing a 48.52 s anchor leg to land the Netherlands gold and a national record in the 4 × 400 m relay, moving from third to first around the final bend; their result was also the fastest at a Europeans since 1986.

[78] Competing again in Metz, France, she set new Dutch indoor records in both the 200 m and 400 m. Bol clocked a lifetime best in the former (22.87 s), and was the fourth woman in history to go under 50 seconds with 49.96 s in the latter.

[80] On 19 February at the Dutch Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn, she sliced 0.7 s off her best with a landmark 49.26 s, breaking the longest-standing world record in a track race.

[83] She capped her record-breaking indoor campaign by successfully defending her European 400 m title at Istanbul 2023 with the third mark under 50 seconds in the that season (49.85 s), a global record.

She added her seventh European title anchoring the Netherlands to a 4 × 400 m relay victory with a new Dutch and championship record, making them the third-fastest national women's team in history.

[93] On 19 August, during the 4 × 400 m mixed relay at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Bol fell within metres of the finish line, while vying with Alexis Holmes of the USA for first place.

[94] On 24 August, she gained her first world title when she won the final of the 400 m hurdles in 51.70 s.[95] She then continued her success on 27 August with her anchor leg in the women's 4 × 400 metres relay, passing Nicole Yeargin of Great Britain and Stacey-Ann Williams of Jamaica shortly before the finish line, earning her a second gold medal at these World Championships, together with team members Eveline Saalberg, Lieke Klaver, Cathelijn Peeters, and Lisanne de Witte (heat only).

[96] After the world championships, Bol won her 400 metres hurdles races at the Galà dei Castelli in Bellinzona, Memorial Van Damme in Brussels, and Prefontaine Classic in Eugene,[10] setting meeting records on all three occasions and becoming the 2023 Diamond League champion in 51.98 s, her third time under 52 seconds of the season, on 17 September.

[10][97] In 2023, Bol won all of her twenty individual 400 m flat and hurdles races[10] and became European Athlete of the Year for a second time.

[102][103] At the 2024 Dutch Indoor Athletics Championships in Apeldoorn on 18 February, she improved her own world record in the 400 metres short track with 0.02 s to 49.24 s,[104] after running 50.55 s in the heats a day earlier.

[117] On 11 June, she successfully defended her European title in the 400 m hurdles,[118] winning in a championship record of 52.49 s,[118] after running 54.16 s in the semifinals a day earlier.

[119][120] On 12 June, Bol anchored the Dutch women's 4 × 400 m relay team with Klaver, Peeters, and De Witte with a split time of 50.45 s to the first place in 3:22.39 min,[121][122] winning her second gold and third medal of the championships.

[10] On 29 and 30 June, Bol competed in the 200 m at the 2024 Dutch Championships in Hengelo, where she ran 23.14 s in her semi-final and an outdoor personal best of 22.80 s in the final, finishing in third place after Tasa Jiya and Klaver.

[129][130] On 3 August, she anchored the Dutch team with Eugene Omalla, Klaver, and Klein Ikkink in the mixed 4 x 400 metres relay to win gold in a European record of 3:07.43 min.

[137] On 11 August, triple medalists Bol and Harrie Lavreysen (track cycling) were the flag bearers for the Netherlands at the Olympic closing ceremony.

[146] She explained her decision on social media: "It gives me the opportunity to have some more time processing everything that has happened and prioritize more things outside of the sports that are important to me.