Femke Bol has officially overtaken Fanny Blankers-Koen on the all-time European Athletics Championships medal table following a gold-medal relay run in Birmingham.
Alongside teammates Myrte van der Schoot, Lieke Klaver, and Eveline Saalberg, Bol secured victory in the women’s 4×400-meter relay to claim her sixth career European title.
While both Bol and Blankers-Koen now stand level at eight total European Championship medals each, Bol holds the tiebreaker with six golds compared to Blankers-Koen’s five.
Rewriting Dutch athletics history
Bol also picked up a bronze medal in the individual 800 meters during the Birmingham tournament.
Her current tally builds on dominant showings at previous championships, including triple gold in Munich in 2022 and two golds alongside a mixed relay bronze in Rome in 2024.
Blankers-Koen set her original benchmark across the 1946 Oslo and 1950 Brussels championships, while retired sprint star Dafne Schippers also reached eight career European medals, winning four golds, three silvers, and one bronze.
Record haul for the national squad
Led by head coach Laurent Meuwly, the Dutch team organized under the Atletiekunie delivered its most successful European campaign to date.
The Netherlands captured a total of 14 medals in Birmingham - five gold, three silver, and six bronze - beating the previous national record of 12 medals set in Rome two years ago.
The result placed the Dutch squad fourth in the overall medal table, trailing only Italy, host nation Great Britain, and Germany.
European athletics records also fell elsewhere during the tournament, as British sprinter Amy Hunt became the first athlete to win four golds at a single European Championships after victories in the individual sprints and relay events.
