"It's an era to be in"-Femke Bol reveals raw reaction on competing alongside Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Dalilah Muhammad in the season

Femke Bol expressed pride in being one of the fourth fastest women alongside Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Dalilah Muhammad in the 400m hurdles, competing in the same season. Bol came fresh off winning her signature event in the Stockholm stop of the Diamond League.

Femke Bol, who became the second athlete to run below 51 seconds after Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, started her season strong with two golds in the mixed 4x400m and women's 4x400m relays in record times at the European Indoor Championships. She followed the wins up with her first individual 400m hurdles race of the season at the Rabat Diamond League.

At the recently concluded Stockholm stop, Bol lowered her own meeting record by finishing first in 52.11s, leaving the iconic Dalilah Muhammad in second. In a post-race interview, the Dutch expressed pride in being one of the fourth-fastest women, alongside Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Dalilah Muhammad, to compete in the same 'era'.

"We have so many fast girls. We have the four fastest women in history, all competing at the same time. It's an era to be in and I think I enjoy it so much. And it's great to see so many people enjoying the corner hurdles." (1:40 onwards)

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Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone eclipsed her world record for the sixth time at the Paris Olympic finals. She clocked 50.37s to defend her 400m hurdles title and also anchored the women's 4x400m relay team to gold.

McLaughlin-Levrone competed at the Grand Slam Track league in its inaugural year. She took the Slam title in the first stop and set the world's best time in the 400m hurdles at GST Miami. In Philadelphia, she competed in the short sprint and short hurdles.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone's coach, Bobby Kersee, expressed concern over the cancellation of the GST league's final stop in LA

McLaughlin-Levrone at the Olympic Games Paris 2024: Day 15 - (Source: Getty)

The final meet of the Grand Slam Track, scheduled for June 28-29, was cancelled due to venue deal issues. Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, who was gearing up for the event, lost her competition chances despite training hard. Opining on that, her coach, Bobby Kersee, said he has seen several sporting events get cancelled due to sponsorship issues.

"Deeply disappointed about the cancellation of the L.A. Grand Slam track meet. Over four decades in this sport, I've watched too many promising initiatives fall short due to organizational challenges, particularly from lack of corporate sponsorship. Our athletes are world-class. They train hard and deserve better. The Grand Slam brand is still very promising, but today, seasons and careers are impacted."

McLaughlin-Levrone won the World Athletics Female Athlete of the Year in 2024 following her Paris Olympic exploits.

About the author

Agnijeeta is a US Olympics journalist at Sportskeeda. She holds a Master’s degree in English and has worked as a school teacher, a blogger, a content writer and a sports writer over the past 5 years. A lover of high-adrenaline track and field events, she was also a sprinter during her school days.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone happens to be her favorite Olympian, and the athlete’s feat of breaking four records within 13 months inspires her, apart from the American's body language on and off the track. Grant Hackett swimming with a partially dysfunctional lung and winning gold in Athens is her all-time favorite Olympic moment.

Agnijeeta believes that deriving of unique angles from podcasts and interviews carried out by Olympics.com, along with hype-building of potential Olympic events on social media can help fill the coverage gap during the off season.

When not at her work desk, Agnijeeta likes to sing and paint. She also plays string instruments like guitar and ukulele and is an avid player of word puzzles.

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Edited by Agnijeeta Majumder