Femke Bol, the world 400m hurdles champion, opened the 2024 season with a bang, showcasing her incredible skills in the Metz Moselle Athleor, a prestigious World Athletics Indoor Tour Silver meeting that took place on Saturday (3). Bol stunned onlookers by breaking the 50-second barrier in her season debut 400-meter race.
Executing two laps around the track with remarkable speed, Bol clocked an astonishing time of 49.69, securing the sixth-fastest time in history and falling just 0.43 seconds short of surpassing her world indoor record. Bol’s dominance was evident, claiming victory by nearly two seconds, while Romania’s Andrea Miklos secured second place with a time of 51.41.
Demonstrating her versatility, Bol swiftly returned to the track an hour later for the 200m event, achieving a new Dutch indoor record of 22.64—a notable improvement of 0.23 seconds over her previous record set at the same meeting the prior year.
Bol’s training companion, Lieke Klaver, enjoyed a stellar day, triumphing in both the 400m (51.33) and 200m (22.81) races. The day’s success extended to other Dutch athletes as two-time European indoor champion Nadine Visser claimed victory in the 60m hurdles with a brisk time of 7.80—the second-fastest of her career.
Ethiopia’s Hirut Meshesha, World indoor 1500m bronze medallist, made a dazzling debut over 3000m, winning in a world-leading time of 8:28.46. This exceptional performance secured her the 13th position on the world indoor all-time list, leaving her competition behind by almost eight seconds.
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The men’s 3000m witnessed a close competition, with Yann Schrub narrowly clinching victory in 7:38.41, just edging out Italy’s Pietro Arese.
Uganda’s 2019 world champion, Halimah Nakaayi, initiated her indoor campaign with a world-leading 800m victory in 1:59.15. Jemma Reekie, a world and Olympic finalist, secured second place with a time of 1:59.42.
Tshepiso Masalela of Botswana dominated the men’s 800m race, setting a national indoor record with an impressive time of 1:45.56.
In other events, Chris Nilsen emerged triumphant in the pole vault, clearing a height of 5.82m, while Belgium’s Alexander Doom secured victory in the 400m with a rapid time of 45.89. The performances of these exceptional athletes at the Metz Moselle Athleor marked an extraordinary beginning to the 2024 season.
