For over a decade and a half, the 400-meter hurdles at the Monaco Diamond League had been a dependable showcase for American excellence. On July 11, that familiar order collapsed. Before a full house at Stade Louis II, Femke Bol delivered a performance not just measured in seconds, but in significance. With a devastating finish and a controlled command of the race, the Dutchwoman authored a new chapter in a discipline long considered an American enclave.
Though the field included some of the United States’ most decorated specialists. With Dalilah Muhammad and Anna Cockrell being heavy favorites, the Dutch proved her worth in gold. Bol, unhurried through the early strides, increased her rhythm with measured intensity, overtaking the field in the back half of the race. She stopped the clock at 51.95, not only a world-leading mark but also the fastest time ever recorded in Monaco. She broke the 2009 meet record of 52.63, set by Lashinda Demus. More pointedly, it ended a 16-year stretch in which American athletes had maintained a vice grip on this specific event at this particular meet.
This race was more than a seasonal checkpoint. It was Bol’s 28th straight win in the 400m hurdles within the Diamond League competition, a streak that began in 2023 and now stretches into its third campaign. Yet this was her first return to Monaco since 2020, when she finished a distant third in the flat 400m. At the time, she left with no title and a time of 51.57. Five years later, she returned to a venue that had eluded her and completed a task she had long set aside, winning the Herculis EBS. She faced not only two Olympic medalists but six of the world’s top 10 in her lane assignments. McLaughlin-Levrone, the reigning Olympic champion and seasonal world leader, was not in Monaco. Even so, the expectation Bol faced was considerable. And she cleared it with ease.
51.95s!!
World Lead
Femke Bol ran a smooth Meet Record of 51.95s to win the women’s 400mH at the Monaco Diamond League!
She finished ahead of an amazing Dalilah Muhammad who set a new masters World Record of 52.58s.
Anna Cockrell was 3rd in 52.91s. pic.twitter.com/ECl7lE7Mb7
— Track & Field Gazette (@TrackGazette) July 11, 2025
In the final standings, Muhammad clocked 52.58 for second. Cockrell followed in 52.91. But there was no contest in the closing meters. Bol widened the gap with calculated acceleration, not reckless energy. The race had ceased to be a duel long before the final barrier. In the end, it wasn’t only a win. It was a conclusion. America’s uninterrupted command of Monaco in this event had finally run its course. Meanwhile, despite the rivalry, Bol never forgets to admire her rivals. So much so that she confessed about getting ‘star-struck’ by US track legend, Dalilah Muhammad.
Femke Bol’s unique confession before she raced Dalilah Muhammad one last time
Even after commanding the track with a world-leading 51.95 seconds at the Monaco Diamond League, Femke Bol’s focus did not solely rest on her own performance. In a race that featured a poised farewell run from Dalilah Muhammad, Bol’s reflections prior to the event revealed something more enduring than times or titles. A sense of reverence that has remained constant since she first took up the 400m hurdles.
Tokyo 2020 Olympics – Athletics – Women’s 400m Hurdles – Final – Olympic Stadium, Tokyo, Japan – August 4, 2021. Dalilah Muhammad of the United States, Sydney McLaughlin of the United States and Femke Bol of the Netherlands pose with flags after competing REUTERS/Phil Noble
“I mean, I think she’s such an amazing athlete and in 2019 I started to do the hurdles and she was so good and she’s such a great hurdler,” Bol said of Muhammad. She recalled their first encounter at the World Championships in Doha, where she admitted being “completely starstruck.” The sentiment, she confessed, has not diminished with time. In the press meet before the Monaco Diamond League, Bol further added, “To be honest I’m always still a bit starstruck when I see her.” Her admiration extended not just to Muhammad’s accolades, but to the way she carries herself through a race, her technique, her precision, and the clarity of her competitive demeanor. These qualities, Bol said, had always given her something to aspire to.
So when they lined up in Monaco, it was not simply another race on the circuit. For Bol, it was a rare moment to share the track with someone who shaped her aspirations. “It’s really nice to get to race her in her last season,” she said. “It’s a pity she will leave but of course at one point it’s for all of us like this.” On a night when Bol reached new ground in her own career, it was her genuine deference to Muhammad that quietly elevated the occasion.
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