Breaking: Femke Bol is moving to 800m IMMEDIATELY

Keely must be thanking her lucky stars she got her one gold medal last year. I don’t see any more in her future with this news.

Maybe she should have talked to Alica Schmidt first.

Here is our article on the development.

https://www.letsrun.com/news/2025/10/breaking-400mh-world-champion-femke-bol-is-moving-up-to-the-800-meters/

I will do my best to get the ladies at Athlos’ reaction to this. Setting up to be a highly competitive event as you imagine Werro, both Moraas, Femke could all join the upper rungs of the podium’s sub-1:55 level next year. Then of course maybe Mu comes back.

Mess with her head? She's won 30 DL races in a row. I think her head is just fine.

Obviously running a race that doesn't stay in lanes versus one that does is totally different but let's don't act like it's rocket science. But the vast majority of the races are rabbitted on the DL circuit.

i think she wanted a change, perhaps in part on having to contend with sydney, and if that's part of the issue, you don't just mirror sydney's switch.

to me she looks like an 800 person. if you'd never seen her you'd wonder about her speed because she looks tall and gawky, which goes over better in the hurdles. but we know she's fast. and to me, strong.

LRC forums have been pontificating this for a few years

plus she's done relays and is used to at least that version of pack running.

Bicarb is also making the 800m more accessible to athletes who might have topped out at 600m before

Bol saw the size of SML jaw in Tokyo and is GTFO.

Love Bol. This is gonna be exciting.

Syd wants to run under 50 for the 400mh. She's not through with the event by any means.

I'm not sure Bol is the lock for greatness in the 800m some think. She'll be competitive but the thoughts that Keely or anyone else should be quaking in their boots is very premature.

Also....why the big show of announcement and why now? There are no potential 400mh races for Bol until next spring. I guess she can run a few 800m races indoors but that's also not for another 3 months. A bit of showboating here not complimentary of Bol.

Not much data to go on but...

Femke only has one 800m listed in World Athletics.

Jan 2017 (shortly before she turned 17) - 2:19.51 (indoors) = 886 points

The same day she ran the 200 indoors in 25.15 = 980 points

About three weeks later she ran an indoor 400m in 55.40 = 1032 points

In 2017, she ran a total of fifteen 400m races, with a point range of 1013-1039

Jump ahead to 2025 - she ran two 400m races in June in 49.48 (1226 points) and 49.98 (1206 points) and two 200m races in August in 22.89 (1133 points) and 22.84 (1151 points)

I think she is more of a 200/400 runner like Sydney than a 400/800 runner. Not to mention the "running in a pack" concept that she will need to adjust to.

Femke is one of my favorite runners, but if she wants a challenge she is going to get it. I think the best she could ever hope for is to make a world final but she will never medal at 800m.

Makes some sense, given that she's in this weird no man's land of being a 2 time world champ in her event, but with a huge asterisk - that being there's one person who is streets ahead of her when she chooses to do it, and that she knows she will never beat.

It's a brave move and one I applaud, but I'm unsure how it'll play out. Can anyone think of a precedent, men or women, of someone moving from 400m to 800m at 25 or older, having had NO experience in anything over 400m prior to that? I'm not saying she can't do it, but it won't be the cakewalk some think. If she can go 1.57 within a year then I'll be impressed

Gwen Jorgensen did... and there were a lot of negative comments on LRC about her move.

Now that would be the world's worst event.

Agreed; I'm sure she already knows how fast she can run it without focusing on it, per say. Trying something new will keep her from burning out. It may inspire others.