Femke Boll broke the European 400m hurdles record by half a second with a time of 50.95 seconds at the Régisprint La Chaux-de-Fonds in Switzerland, becoming just the second woman in history to break 51 seconds in the event.
That’s the third-fastest time ever, trailing only the world record of 50.65 seconds set by Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene last month and the previous world record of 50.68 seconds set by McLaughlin-Levrone in 2022 in Eugene.
Boll, a world champion and Olympic bronze medalist, set a personal best of 51.45 at the London Games last July. She will face McLaughlin-Levrone for the Olympic gold medal in Paris in August.
He finished second to the Dutch hurdle ace. World Championships Continental Tour Challenger Kemi Adekoya won the event in La Chaux-de-Fonds in 53.41 seconds, while Jessie Knight won the other race in 54.59 seconds.
Boll’s compatriot Nadine Visser and Poland’s Pia Skrzyszowska both set new personal bests in a closely fought 100m hurdles final, with Visser breaking the Dutch record with a time of 12.36 (1.6 meters per second) to set a new meet record, while Skrzyszowska finished just 0.01 seconds off the Polish record in 12.37. Visser had beaten her own national record by 0.04 seconds in the heats with a time of 12.42.
South African Benjamin Richardson, a three-time World U20 medalist, won the 100m in a meet record time of 9.86 seconds (1.9 m/s).
The 20-year-old, who won World U20 4x100m gold and 100m silver in 2021 and 100m bronze in 2022, broke 10 seconds for the first time, bettering his previous personal best of 10.08 which he equalled with wins over Ronnie Baker (9.95) and Ebrahima Kamara (9.98) in the heats.
Richardson also finished a close second in the 200 metres, breaking another barrier by running under 20 seconds for the first time in his career, clocking 19.99 (0.8 metres per second) to finish behind France’s Ryan Zezé in 19.90.
Swiss Mujinga Kambundji, the 2022 World Indoor 60m champion, set a meet record in the women’s 100m final with a time of 10.90 (1.4m/s), just 0.01 seconds off her own national record. Compatriot Salome Kola came second in 10.95, breaking 11.00 for the first time. Jessica Bianca Wesoly was fastest in the 200m race, clocking a new personal best of 22.50 (1.0m/s).
The men’s long jump also saw a new meet record, with local star Simon Ehammer leaping 8.36 metres in the final, just nine centimetres shy of his own national record.
Salwa Eid Nasser won the 400 meters in a meet record time of 49.66, beating Henrietta Yeager, 21, who improved her personal best by almost a second with a time of 49.85. Anthony Pesella won the men’s 400 meters in 44.99.
result