This is the true story of Femke Bol's comeback after falling in the Mixed 4x400M relay at the 2023 World Athletics Championship in Budapest.
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00:00She thought she was about to win at the World Championships, but as she pushed her body to its
00:04absolute limit and she felt the American runner breathing down her neck, her legs gave out and
00:09she slammed face first into the ground. Her baton flew over the finish line, completely disqualifying
00:15the entire Dutch relay team and destroying their chances of even getting a medal.
00:20The drama continues, we had a fall in the women's 10k, nobody can stay on their feet tonight.
00:26He was referencing Safaan Hassan, another incredible Dutch runner who had fallen earlier
00:30in the evening in the last stretch of the 10,000m finals. As Femke Boal watched the replays and she
00:36heard the cackles of the US commentators laughing about her and her fellow countrywoman's misfortune,
00:41she felt sick to her stomach. What a fun event to watch. And everybody gets some money for that
00:47world record. Everybody's gonna go home happy. Soon after the race, Femke was swarmed by reporters
00:53questioning her on what happened, but she didn't dwell and she made it clear that she wasn't going
00:57to let it happen again. I'm lucky enough to have another chance in a couple of days. I would like
01:01my revenge. The event she fell in was the mixed 4x400m relay, but she still had to run the women's
01:074x400m relay a couple days later. So when the day arrived, Femke was determined to redeem herself
01:14and secure a medal for the country she felt like she'd let down. She was once again running the
01:18anchor leg, but this time she was handed the baton in third place, left with a lot of space
01:23to make up. I think they're falling just far out enough of reach where it may not matter what Femke
01:29Boal does. But Femke was determined and as the runners came down the final stretch, she pulled
01:33into second place and then she won. However, as Femke celebrated and watched back the replay of
01:39her winning race, her revenge felt incomplete. This just re-emphasizes how great Alexis Holmes
01:45was that night, because she ran down a woman who tonight ran down some of the best anchors
01:50in the world. See, the US weren't even in this race. They'd been disqualified in an earlier heat
01:54and so there was still an underlying feeling that a true sense of revenge would only come from Femke
02:00and her team outperforming the US in the mixed relay. And only a year later, it looked like they
02:05would get that opportunity at the 2024 Paris Olympics. But as the Dutch mixed team lined up
02:11in the qualifiers, many people were confused when Femke Boal was nowhere to be seen. But the truth
02:16is, it was all part of the Netherlands strategy. See, between the qualifying heats and the finals,
02:21teams are allowed to substitute one runner. So when the Dutch team progressed to the finals,
02:26they knew who they wanted running the anchor leg. When Femke received the baton once again,
02:30she had a lot of distance to make up. This time she was sitting in fourth place, with the US
02:35holding a massive lead. But Femke got to work, gradually taking each podium spot from the leading
02:41pack. She pulled ahead into third, then second, and then when she had the US runner in her sight,
02:46she knew this was her moment. You can change out one runner and they bring in Femke Boal.
02:54What kind of runner to bring in?