Former athlete Jarmila Kratochvílová lost one of her old records a few days ago. Femke Bolová of the Netherlands, who is 50 years her junior, beat her to take first place in the indoor 400 meters, when she improved Kratochvílova’s time by 33 hundredths in the national championships over the weekend. The record for longest indoor athletics stands at nearly 41 years.
Kratochvílová set it in Milan in March 1982 with a time of 49.59 seconds. Nearly 41 years later, the 22-year-old Olympic bronze medalist from Tokyo broke that record when he made history at Apeldoorn with a time of 49.26.
World record race 👀
4️⃣9️⃣.2️⃣6️⃣ 🤯
Watch how Femke Bol destroys the track in the 🇳🇱 championship in Apeldoorn 🔥
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— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics)
February 19, 2023
“I expected to run 49.5 here, but 49.26? That’s a great result. I really have no words for that. (…) It was a nearly perfect race,” he said website International Olympic Committee.
Bolová won gold at the European Indoor Championships on the same track two years ago. He previously set world records in the 300m hurdles and 500m indoor race. The Amersfoort native, who turns 23 on Thursday, also set Dutch indoor records in the 200m and 400m earlier this month.
Kratochvílová told Czech media that at first it didn’t even occur to him that he still held this record. “I’m not jealous at all. Every now and then special people are born and they are special. But don’t forget that it’s not about talent and training, it’s about health to last. And those big records of mine… can last at least until July 26th, when he’ll be 40. Then let someone beat him.” he shared Message List.
The Czechoslovak athlete is the longest standing world record holder in athletics, namely in the women’s 800 meter dash. He ran it at the meeting in Munich in 1983 with a time of 1:53.28 minutes.
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