Dutch sprinter Femke Bol entered history books on Saturday, February 4 when she smashed the 17-year-old 500m world record during the 2023 New Balance Indoor Grand Prix.
She produced a monstrous performance in the indoor event staged in Boston, United States to cross the finishing line in 1:05.63.
Russian runner Olesya Aleksandrovna Forsheva set the previous world record of 1:06.31 on Saturday, January 7, 2006.
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In the past 40 years, no Kenyan woman has come close to smashing the record in the distance.
Bol, a World Athletics Championships and Olympic medalist, expressed her delight after achieving the incredible feat.
“I’m just super happy to have it worked out like this. No, I’m not planning to go further than 500m.
“Now I’m moving to some 400s before I do the European Indoor Championships,” she was quoted by World Athletics.
The 22-year-old is one of the best short-distance athletes to ever emerge from the Netherlands.
The promising sprinter has dominated Europe in the past two years, winning numerous titles including the 400m hurdles, 4 x400m relay and 400m titles at the 2022 European Championships.
Leah Anderson of Jamaica settled for a second-place finish in 1:08.34. The more than two seconds gap between her and Bol shows just how the latter's performance was electric.
The men’s world record (road) is currently being held by Kenya’s David Lekuta Rudisha - the 800m specialist.
Rudisha set the mark of 57.69 at the Great North City Games held in New Castle, United Kingdom in 2016.
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