The world and European 400m hurdles champion cruises to victory in her first 800m race in Metz.
Femke Bol’s highly-anticipated 800m debut ended with a Dutch indoor record 1:59.07 victory in Metz, France on Sunday (February 8), but her middle-distance prowess was unlikely to scare Olympic champion Kiley Hodgkinson or world champion Lilian Odira. Not yet.
Ball, the reigning world and European 400m hurdles champion, won the race relatively comfortably and fell within two minutes of the women’s 800m mark. But she looked a little reluctant to trail pacesetter Anna Griek in 400m 56.66 and appeared to be in mild danger from Valentina Rosamilia and Lore Hoffmann, although the Swiss duo eventually finished in 1:59.90 and 1:59.91 respectively.
As the indoor 400m world record holder with a time of 49.17, Ball should have felt comfortable crossing the halfway mark in 57 seconds. He looked relaxed too. You wouldn’t expect him to have an absolutely classy race on his debut either. It will therefore be intriguing to see how he performs against stronger opposition in the coming weeks. Certainly, his 1:59.07 was no benchmark as much as his sub-50 second ability in the 400m.
Gabriela Gajanova was due to take part in this race in Metz, but pulled out late after catching a cold. It was a shame as Gayanova holds the Slovakian record of 1:58.22 outdoors and will provide a real test. Furthermore, Gaianova finished runner-up to Hodgkinson at the 2024 European Championships in Rome, although the Brit was down on the day with a mild illness of his own.
READ MORE. Big Hurdles Harald Schmid on Bol’s 800m ‘adventure’
Georgia Hunter Bell will be another athlete unlikely to be bothered by Ball’s debut. Hunter Bell won silver behind Odira and just ahead of Hodgkinson at the world championships in Tokyo last September and coincidentally raced Ball on the same afternoon, setting the world 1500m lead in 4:00.05 with a strong finish at the World Indoor Tour Gold meet in Karlsruhe, Germany.
Issy Boffi’s world leading score of 1:57.43 also surviving the weekend. Metz was beyond Bol, but what can the Dutch athlete achieve when she really hits her stride in her new event?
