Peter Bol (runner)

{{short description|Australian middle-distance runner (born 1994)}}

{{Infobox sportsperson

| name = Peter Bol

| image = Laufgala Pfungstadt 2017 IMG 7704.jpg

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| caption = Bol in 2017

| birth_name = Nagmeldin "Peter" Bol

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| nationality = Australian

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| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1994|2|22|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Khartoum, Sudan

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| height = 5 ft 10 in

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| country = Australia

| sport = Track and field

| event = 800 metres

| collegeteam =

| universityteam = Curtin University{{cite web |last1=Bol |first1=Peter |title=The Power of Consistency |url=https://www.runnerstribe.com/blogs/743-2/ |website=Runners Tribe Journal |publisher=Runners Tribe |accessdate=6 November 2019 |date=1 March 2015}}

| club = St Kevins Athletics Club

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| coach = Justin Rinaldi

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| pb = 1:42.55 (Monaco 2025)

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{{Medal|Country|{{AUS}}}}

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}}

Nagmeldin "Peter" Bol (born 22 February 1994){{cite web |title=Peter BOL – Athlete Profile |url=https://www.worldathletics.org/athletes/australia/peter-bol-14456885 |website=World Athletics |access-date=1 January 2023}} is an Australian middle-distance runner who competes in the 800 metres. He represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Olympics, placed fourth at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and won the silver medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Early life and education

Born in Khartoum, Sudan, Bol's mother Hanan Kuku is Sudanese of Nubian ethnicity, and his father Abdalla Bol is an ethnic Dinka from the region that is now South Sudan.{{cite news |last1=Butler |first1=Steve |date=5 December 2015 |title=Bol on the fast track to Olympic dream |work=West Australian}}{{cite news |last1=Pender |first1=Kieran |title=Peter Bol: 'Get to know the person, instead of the assumptions' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/aug/03/peter-bol-get-to-know-the-person-instead-of-the-assumptions |access-date=3 August 2021 |work=The Guardian |date=3 August 2021}} His family fled the Second Sudanese Civil War when he was four.{{cite news |last1=Gleeson |first1=Michael |title=Rio Olympics 2016: Peter Bol, the man who ran from Sudan to Australia |url=https://www.smh.com.au/sport/rio-olympics-2016-peter-bol-the-man-who-ran-from-sudan-to-australia-20160812-gqqpna.html |accessdate=21 July 2018 |work=Sydney Morning Herald |date=12 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180721132638/https://www.smh.com.au/sport/rio-olympics-2016-peter-bol-the-man-who-ran-from-sudan-to-australia-20160812-gqqpna.html |archive-date=21 July 2018 |url-status=live}} In 2016, it was falsely reported that his family lived in an Egyptian refugee camp before emigrating to Australia.{{cite web |date=9 August 2021 |title=Bol's 'refugee camp' |url=https://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/episodes/bol/13489188 |website=Media Watch}} Bol has stated that "despite what some people have said and written, we never lived in a refugee camp."{{cite web |url=https://www.perthnow.com.au/sport/tokyo-2020/tokyo-2020-perths-peter-bol-clarifies-false-reports-ahead-of-mens-800m-final-ng-b881957227z |title=Tokyo 2020: Perth's Peter Bol clarifies false reports ahead of men's 800m final |website=The Sunday Times |date=4 August 2021}}{{cite web |first=Frances |last=Mao |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-58095689 |title=Peter Bol: The Sudanese-Australian runner who lifted a nation |website=BBC News |date=5 August 2021}}

At the age of eight, Bol arrived in Toowoomba, Queensland. He grew up in Perth and attended St Norbert College on a basketball scholarship. In 2017, Bol completed a degree in construction management at Curtin University. He briefly worked as an engineer prior to signing an Adidas contract in 2018, and has since also completed a business course at the University of Melbourne.{{Cite web |last=Marshall |first=Konrad |date=11 February 2022 |title=The fast and the curious: how elite runner Peter Bol keeps his life on track |url=https://www.smh.com.au/sport/the-fast-and-the-curious-how-elite-runner-peter-bol-keeps-his-life-on-track-20211122-p59b3p.html |access-date=2023-10-29 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |language=en}}

Athletics career

Bol was a promising basketballer in Perth, Western Australia. When he was 16, a teacher at St Norbert College suggested he try 800 metres running after a promising cross-country race.

he 2016 Rio Olympics.{{cite web |title=Peter Bol |url=http://athletics.com.au/profiles/athleteprofiles/PeterBol |website=Athletics Australia Profiles |accessdate=21 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180721102946/http://athletics.com.au/profiles/athleteprofiles/PeterBol |archive-date=21 July 2018 |url-status=live}} At the Games, Bol finished sixth in his heat with a time of 1:49.36.

At the 2017 World Championships in Athletics in London, he finished seventh in his heat in a time of 1:49.65.{{cite web |title=Nagmeldin 'Peter' Bol |url=http://athhistory.sportstg.com/athletes/athlete7203.htm |website=Australian Athletics Historical Results |accessdate=21 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180721132508/http://athhistory.sportstg.com/athletes/athlete7203.htm |archive-date=21 July 2018 |url-status=dead}}

In June 2018 at an IAAF meet in Stockholm, Sweden, he set a personal best of 1:44.56 in the 800 m defeating training partner Joseph Deng.

He was eliminated in the heats of his signature event at the 2019 World Championships held in Doha, Qatar, running 1:46.92.

At the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Bol came first in his semi-final with a personal best time of 1:44:11. He then came fourth in the final, missing out on a bronze medal by 0.53 s.

He set a new Oceania and Australian record of 1:44.00 in June 2022 at the Paris Diamond League. This was the third time he has lowered the national record in the 800 m.{{Cite web |date=19 June 2022 |title=Bol breaks Oceania record as Australian men master the mile |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/jun/19/bol-breaks-oceania-record-as-australian-men-master-the-mile |access-date=22 June 2022 |website=The Guardian}} That year Bol finished seventh in his specialty at the World Championships held in Eugene, Oregon with a time of 1:45.51 before claiming the silver medal at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in 1:47.66.

= Doping suspension and exoneration =

In January 2023, it was announced that Bol had been provisionally suspended by Athletics Australia after failed out-of-competition doping test, with the test showing signs of synthetic EPO.{{Cite web |date=20 January 2023 |title=Australian 800m record-holder Peter Bol tests positive |url=https://athleticsweekly.com/athletics-news/australian-800m-record-holder-peter-bol-tests-positive-1039964379/ |access-date=20 January 2023 |website=AW |language=en-GB}}{{Cite web |last=Hytner |first=Mike |date=20 January 2023 |title=Australian Olympic athlete Peter Bol fails out-of-competition doping test |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/jan/20/australian-olympic-athlete-peter-bol-fails-out-of-competition-doping-test |access-date=20 January 2023 |website=TheGuardian.com |language=en}} His suspension was lifted the following month because his B sample returned an atypical finding (ATF) for EPO, though Sport Integrity Australia continued its investigation.{{Cite news |last=Hytner |first=Mike |date=14 February 2023 |title=Olympian Peter Bol's provisional doping suspension lifted after B sample test returned |language=en |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/feb/14/olympian-peter-bol-says-provisional-doping-suspension-lifted-after-b-sample-exonerates-him |access-date=14 February 2023 |issn=0261-3077}} In August 2023, Bol was officially cleared by Sports Integrity Australia.{{Cite web |date=1 August 2023 |title=SPORT INTEGRITY AUSTRALIA UPDATE ON THE PETER BOL MATTER |url=https://www.sportintegrity.gov.au/news/media-statements/2023-08/sport-integrity-australia-update-peter-bol-matter |access-date=1 August 2023 |website=Sports Integrity Austrtalia}}

Personal life

Bol became engaged to Mahtut Yaynu in March 2024. They have a daughter, born in October 2024.{{Cite news |last=Harley |first=Felicity |date=17 November 2024 |title=From despair to baby joy: How Olympian and runner Peter Bol got his spark back |url=https://www.heraldsun.com.au/lifestyle%2Fstellar%2Ffrom-despair-to-baby-joy-how-olympian-and-runner-peter-bol-got-his-spark-back%2Fnews-story%2Fd29d1cad7582cea46d95783dfddc43f3 |access-date=2024-11-18 |work=Stellar}}

Achievements

=International competitions=

2016

|Olympic Games

|Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

|41st (h)

|800 m

|1:49.36

2017

|World Championships

|London, United Kingdom

|38th (h)

|800 m

|1:49.65

2019

|World Championships

|Doha, Qatar

|31st (h)

|800 m

|1:46.92

2021

|Olympic Games

|Tokyo, Japan

|4th

|800 m

|1:45.92

rowspan=2|2022

|World Championships

|Eugene, OR, United States

|7th

|800 m

|1:45.51

Commonwealth Games

|Birmingham, United Kingdom

|bgcolor=silver|2nd

|800 m

|1:47.66

2023

|World Championships

|Budapest, Hungary

|28th (h)

|800 m

|1:46.75

2024

|Olympic Games

|Paris, France

|18th (rep)

|800 m

|1:46.12

=Circuit performances=

==Wins and titles==

Diamond League
2018: Stockholm BAUHAUS-galan (800m)

=National titles=

Australian Athletics Championships
800 metres: 2019, 2021, 2022

=Personal bests=

600 metres – 1:16.26 (Glendale 2019)
800 metres – 1:43.72 (Perth 2025)
800 metres indoor – 1:47.70 (Ostrava 2019)
1500 metres – 3:34.52 (Décines 2023)

References

External links

{{World Athletics|australia/peter-bol-14456885}}
[https://www.athletics.com.au/athlete/peter-bol/ Peter Bol] at Australian Athletics ([https://web.archive.org/web/20190317024951/https://athletics.com.au/profiles/athleteprofiles/PeterBol/ archive])
[https://athletics.possumbility.com/athletes/athlete7203.htm Nagmeldin 'Peter' Bol] at Australian Athletics Historical Results
[https://www.icmi.com.au/peter-bol-oly/ Peter Bol] at ICMI
{{Australian Olympic Committee|peter-bol}}
{{Commonwealth Games Australia|peter-bol}}
{{Olympics.com|peter-bol}}
{{Olympedia}}
[https://web.archive.org/web/20241006162027/https://www.olympics.com/en/paris-2024/athlete/peter-bol_1939833 Peter Bol] at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics (archived, [https://paris2024.rtve.es/es/paris-2024/atleta/peter-bol_1939833 alternate link])
{{2022 Commonwealth Games profile|53373}}