Few people probably knew who Femke Bol was until Saturday evening.
The 24-year-old native of the Netherlands thrust herself into the world spotlight by capping off an incredible final leg in the 4x400m mixed relay in the Summer Olympics. Despite trailing American Kaylyn Brown by a significant stretch, she turned on the burners on the last lap to snatch the gold from Team USA.
I’m not a track guy, and never have been. After all, why would you want to run for the sake of running? The only way you’ll get me to run is after a ball of some kind, but I’m not running just to prove I’m faster than everyone else (side note: I’m often not faster than everyone else).
All that to say, I found what Bol did wildly impressive. I would’ve given up, but by golly she did not.
That incredible display of athleticism and determination should be enough to make her a sensation, and to be fair, it has. But she’s also going viral for a reason that I’m sure she’d rather not be.
After her sudden burst to fame, many people started looking up past highlights of hers. In the process, several post-race interviews from a variety of competitions surfaced, and one common thing stood out among all of them.
The clip below is from the World Indoor Championships in March 2024. I’ll let you hear the audio for yourself, but I do have this challenge for you: try not to laugh as you listen.
Did you complete the challenge? Of course you didn’t, because you’re normal.
Here are a couple of other clips for you to redeem yourself.
How’d you do this time? Don’t worry if you didn’t pass, because I certainly didn’t.
In case you were wondering, this is not how she talks all the time, as evidenced by this get-to-know-you video featuring Bol before the Olympics began.
So why the startling change?
Apparently, exerting a lot of energy after running a race can temporarily affect your voice. I didn’t know this, since I’ve never done track and definitely don’t plan on changing that anytime soon. But that explains the shockingly high pitch of Bol’s voice in the interview.
While it’s a good thing that Bol doesn’t have to deal with this on a consistent basis, it nonetheless made her famous on social media. Again, this is probably fame that she would rather live without.
It must stink having to deal with this after every time she races. But I’m sure the gold medal she won for her nation made this time worth it.
