Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone's rival Femke Bol creates history with major honor after World Championships victory

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone's rival, Femke Bol, etched her name in history books after receiving the 2025 European Athlete of the Year award. With this feat, she became the only woman athlete to have received the award thrice.

Bol received the honor at the Golden Tracks awards in Batumi, Georgia, on Saturday, October 25, 2025. She previously received the honor in 2022 and 2023. Bol outfoxed Switzerland’s Ditaji Kambundji and Spain’s Maria Pérez to achieve this feat. She dominated the 400m race at the European Athletics Team Championships with 49.48 seconds in June.

The Dutch athlete went on to clinch her second World Championships gold medal in the 400m at the Tokyo edition. Bol defeated Jasmine Jones and Emma Zapletalov to clock a championship record of 51.54 seconds. The victory marked her third consecutive podium finish in the event at the world championships, after having previously won a gold at the 2023 Budapest edition and a silver at the 2022 Eugene edition.

She reshared an Instagram story from European Athletics that honored her with the major award and wrote:

"The first-ever woman to win European Athlete of the Year three times!"

Screenshot of Bol's Instagram story.

As Bol received the honor in the women's category, Mondo Duplantis won the European Athlete of the Year in the men's category. They both joined the elite three-member list of having earned the feat thrice, along with Great Britain’s Mo Farah. Although America's McLaughlin-Levrone transitioned to flat 400m, her and Bol's 400m hurdles performances have earned the nine fastest times in the history of the event.

Femke Bol expresses her gratitude after winning the European Athlete of the Year award for the third time

Femke Bol during the World Athletics Championships 2025 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Getty Images)

Femke Bol expressed her gratitude after winning the European Athlete of the Year award for the third time through a video message.

"Thank you for voting for me to become European Athlete of the Year," she said. "Unfortunately, I cannot be there this year, but I really want to thank everyone of you and all the fans who always support me, and, of course, the amazing team I have around me for everything we’ve accomplished — and for coming home with another European Athlete of the Year award. Thank you, and have a nice evening." (via european-athletics.com)

Along with individual victory, Femke Bol also earned medals in the 4x400m relay and 4x400m mixed relay in Tokyo this year. She announced her switch to 800m for the next season, with the 2026 European Athletics Championships likely being the first competition in the new event.

Edited by Janhavi Shinde