Peter Bol (runner)

Nagmeldin "Peter" Bol (born 22 February 1994) is an Australian middle-distance runner. He competed in the men's 800 metres at the 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympics and holds the national record.

For the Sinologist, see Peter Bol (historian).
Peter BoI
Peter Bol in 2017
Personal information
Birth namePeter Bol
NationalitySudan
Born (1994-02-22) 22 February 1994
Khartoum, Sudan
Height5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Sport
Country Australia
SportTrack and field
Event(s)800 metres
University teamCurtin University[1]
ClubSt Kevins Athletics Club
TeamAthletics Australia
Coached byJustin Rinaldi
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)1:44.11 AR (Tokyo 2021)

Early life and education

Bol was born on 22 February 1994 in Khartoum, Sudan.[2] His mother is Sudanese, and his father from the region that is now South Sudan.[3] His family fled the civil war in Sudan when he was four.[4] In 2016, it was falsely[3][5][6][7] reported that they lived in an Egyptian refugee camp for four years before emigrating to Australia.[4] In August 2021, Bol wrote in The West Australian that "despite what some people have said and written, we never lived in a refugee camp."[5][6] According to Media Watch, the false story originated with a 2016 article in The Sydney Morning Herald.[7]

At the age of eight, Bol arrived in Toowoomba, Queensland.[4] He grew up in Perth and attended St Norbert College[2] on a basketball scholarship.[3] In 2017, he completed a degree in construction management at Curtin University.[2][3] As of 2021, he was intending to train as an engineer.[3]

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 m running after a promising cross-country race.[2]

In 2013, Bol won the junior men's 800 m at the Australian Athletics Championships in a personal best time of 1:48.90.[2] In December 2015, he moved from Perth to Melbourne to train with coach Justin Rinaldi, who also coached joint national record holder Alexander Rowe.[2] In 2016, he ran two Olympic qualifying times (1:45.78 and 1:45.41) and was selected on the Australian team for the 2016 Rio Olympics.[8] At the Olympics, he finished sixth in his heat in 1:49.36. At the 2017 IAAF World Championships, he finished seventh in his heat in 1:49.65.[9]

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.[8]

At the 2020 Summer Olympics, Bol came first in his semi-final with a personal best time of 1:44:11. He then competed in the final where he came fourth and missed out on a bronze medal by 0.53 of a second. The winner, Emmanuel Korir clocked a slower time of 1:45.06 to win than the time that Bol had accomplished in his heat.[10]

References
  1. Bol, Peter (1 March 2015). "The Power of Consistency". Runners Tribe Journal. Runners Tribe. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  2. Butler, Steve (5 December 2015). "Bol on the fast track to Olympic dream". West Australian.
  3. Pender, Kieran (3 August 2021). "Peter Bol: 'Get to know the person, instead of the assumptions'". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  4. Gleeson, Michael (12 August 2016). "Rio Olympics 2016: Peter Bol, the man who ran from Sudan to Australia". Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 21 July 2018. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
  5. "Tokyo 2020: Perth's Peter Bol clarifies false reports ahead of men's 800m final". The Sunday Times. 4 August 2021.
  6. Mao, Frances (5 August 2021). "Peter Bol: The Sudanese-Australian runner who lifted a nation". BBC News.
  7. "Bol's 'refugee camp'". Media Watch. 9 August 2021.
  8. "Peter Bol". Athletics Australia Profiles. Archived from the original on 21 July 2018. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
  9. "Nagmeldin 'Peter' Bol". Australian Athletics Historical Results. Archived from the original on 21 July 2018. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
  10. "Peter Bol". www.athletics.com.au. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
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