The China Mail - Femke Bol targets fast return after draining 2024

Last year, the Dutch athlete became the first woman to break 51 seconds for her event, but in the Olympic final in Paris she went out too fast and was dealt a decisive defeat by McLaughlin-Levrone in new world record, with her American teammate Anna Cockrell snatching the silver medal. Bol was left with a disappointing bronze.

The 25-year-old did leave the French capital with one gold medal, after memorably coming from fourth place on the anchor leg to win the mixed 4x400m relay for her country on the line.

To recover from an exhausting year, Bol retreated into the arms of her family.

"I really tried to take a bit more time to just be with my loved ones, because the year after the Olympics, I didn't see them a lot," she told AFP in an interview.

"I really took some time to make the life around track a bit more a priority."

The lesson she took from the year was: "Don't put the pressure on myself from having to compete and having to be in great shape, but just enjoy the training, enjoy the process, change some things again a bit in training.

"It's a bit of a different mindset," she added.

Over the winter, she has been "training hard, like always. Actually, my coach had me train harder than usual, because when you do competition, you train a bit less".

Her first big outdoor race of the season comes at the Diamond League meeting in Rabat on May 25 before she is roared on by a home crowd in Hengelo in the Netherlands on June 9.

The target for the year is the world championships in Tokyo in September but Bol said she was not even projecting forward to the next Olympics, in Los Angeles in 2028.

"This year, I will not think too much about the next Olympics because I think the last three years, it's all you've been thinking about," she said.

"But yeah, of course, I want to keep performing the way I am. I want to keep improving on the hurdles, trying to get more often below 51 seconds. And also have great races against great opponents."

In any other era of her event, Bol would be the standout athlete.

But she takes the competition from McLaughlin-Levrone and the emerging threat from Cockrell with good grace.

"Of course, Sydney is amazing, but Anna Cockrell became a silver medallist and she is also in a great shape.

"I think in general, the level is crazy high for 400 hurdles.

"So I just want to keep improving myself and then I'll see where it brings me. If it brings me a gold, silver, bronze or no podium, I always try to go for the best, but it's my own best version.

"That's all I can do."

G.Tsang--ThChM