Peter Bol

BIOGRAPHY

After a dominate domestic season in 2021, Peter Bol became the fastest Australian 800m athlete in history as he just missed an historic medal at the Tokyo Olympics. Twice during the Olympics he lowered the Australian 800m record with times of 1:44.13, then 1:44.11, eventually finishing fourth in the final the highest place by an Aussie in the event for 53 years.

In 2022 Peter won his third consecutive National 800m title. On a European tour ahead of the world championships, competing at the Paris Diamond League in June, he broke his own Australian 800m record, clocking 1:44.00 – the third time he had lowered the record in 12 months.

At his third World Championships, Peter ran strongly in his heat to win the race. But in the semi-final, where he was third, he had a nervous wait to see if he qualified for the final. He had, becoming the first ever Australian to qualify for a world championship 800m final. He went on to place 7th in the final in 1:45.51.

Two weeks later at the Commonwealth Games, he won his first international medal – silver, in a slow tactical race clocking 1:47.66.

In July 2023 he flagged he was in good form ahead of the Budapest World Championships. Clocking 1:44.29, he recorded his first qualifier for the world championships and the 2024 Olympics. In August he was named in his seventh global athletics team (World Champs or Olympics) since 2016. In Budapest he competed in the 800m heats placing 5th in a time of 1:46.75.

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Peter Bol was born in Khartoum to a Sudanese mother and South Sudanese father. “My family emigrated from Sudan to Egypt when I was four and it was our home for four years,” Peter said. In Egypt his family obtained humanitarian status through the UNHCR, first arriving in Toowoomba, before the family settled in perth.

At age 16 Peter commenced his athletics journey. After an athletics school carnival one of his teachers approached him and convinced him to join an athletics club promising to help him find a mentor, a club and a coach. He thought it was a pretty good deal specially because it meant he'd be fitter for basketball, so he agreed.

Within a couple of years, in 2013, he won the national junior 800m title in a PB 1:48.90. He recorded his first sub-1:48 in 2014 and sub-1:47 in 2015. Also, in 2015 he moved to Melbourne to be coached by Justin Rinaldi.

After placing fifth in the 2016 national championships, he chased the Olympic qualifier in Europe (standard 1:45.80). He achieved his first qualifier in Wiesbaden, Germany (1:45.78) in June and went even quicker 1:45.41 in July in Ninive, Belgium. In his debut for Australia at the Rio Olympics, he placed sixth in his heat in 1:49.36.

In 2017 he travelled to Europe chasing a world championships qualifier, which he achieved with a PB of 1:45.21. At the 2017 IAAF World Championships, he placed seventh in his 800m heat. An injury (stress fracture) in early 2018 resulted in him missing Commonwealth Games selection.

In 2018 Peter and his training partner Joseph Deng then went hunting the then nearly 50-year-old Australian 800m record. Peter started very well clocking a large PB and becoming the fourth fastest Australia ever with a time of 1:44.56 in Stockholm. But Deng would beat him to the national 800m record in July.

In 2019 Peter won the national title and was Australia’s sole representative at the world championships in Doha.

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Advice to your young self: If only you knew you were going to become an Olympian would you have complained that much…or gave up so many times? Just that failure is part of the game and to have that confidence to fail and to face those challenges…..Biggest challenge: Putting everything into athletics without a plan B because it's not the most financially rewarding sport…..Interesting facts: Speaks Arabic, has five siblings and his first name ‘Nagmeldin’ meaning star…..Influential people: different times but I would definitely include my parents, his coach Justin Rinaldi who has attempted to do it all for me from sports to outside life.

@ November 23 david.tarbotton@athletics.org.au

World Athletics Profile https://worldathletics.org/athletes/australia/peter-bol-14456885