Femke Bol challenges Keeley Hodgkinson to 600m race

Inspired by the 100m duel between Mondo Duplantis and Karsten Warholm that took place last week in Zurich, 400m hurdles world champion Femke Bol of the Netherlands challenged British 800m Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson to a race during the Diamond League Final press conference on Thursday. The odd 600-metre distance falls right between each of their primary disciplines–and fans are already buzzing over who will come out dominant should the pair follow through with the match-up.

 

 

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“I would actually love to run against Keely Hodgkinson in a 600m,” Bol revealed. “We’re good friends, but it’s a bit far, so I have to think it through really well.”

The reigning Olympic 800m champion indicated on Instagram that she has no objections to Bol’s proposal. The timeline for when the race would take place is yet to be determined, as the 2024 track season is coming to a close in Brussels.

Mondo Duplantis defeats Karsten Warholm in 100m showdown

The trend of challenging fellow elite track and field athletes to off-distance competitors was initiated by Duplantis, the Swedish-American Olympic and world champion in the pole vault, who challenged Warholm, the Norwegian 400m hurdles world champion to a 100m race. A huge debate arose discussing which race distance favoured more; Duplantis has the 50m sprint speed to fly down the pole-vault runway, while Warholm possesses the speed endurance and experience with starting blocks. Their race took place ahead of the Zurich Diamond League, where Duplantis won in 10.37 seconds.

Bol and Hodgkinson’s battle has already caused a stir in the track world. Bol’s strengths lie in the 400m distance (both over hurdles and not), but the Dutch athlete also holds the 500m world record of 1:05.63, set in 2023. However, she considers the 600m distance “far”. Meanwhile, Hodgkinson has regular experience racing distances ranging from 400m to 800m, and holds the indoor 600m world record of 1:23.41, also set in 2023. Her 400m personal best is 51.61–over two seconds slower than Bol’s, which stands at 49.17.

If you thought the Duplantis versus Warholm winner was hard to predict, this could be an even closer battle. If they end up facing off, it won’t be a race to miss.