Cathelijn Peeters (; born 6 November 1996) is a Dutch track and field athlete who competes in hurdling and sprinting and previously competed in the combined events and hammer throw. Peeters specializes in the 400 metres hurdles and in the 400 metres. In the 4 × 400 metres relay, she is the 2023 World Champion and the 2024 World Indoor Champion with the Dutch women's team and the 2024 Olympic Champion with the Dutch mixed team.
Individually, Peeters won bronze medals at the 2023 European Games and the 2024 European Championships and five national titles at the Dutch Championships in 2020–2024. As part of the Dutch women's 4 × 400 metres relay team, she won gold medals at the 2023 European Indoor Championships, 2023 World Championships, 2024 World Indoor Championships, and 2024 European Championships and she shares the Dutch records outdoor and indoor. As part of the Dutch mixed 4 × 400 metres relay team, she won a gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Peeters' highest World Athletics Rankings were No. 11 in the 400 metres hurdles in 2024, No. 77 in the 400 metres in 2024, and No. 233 of women overall in 2024. With the Dutch women's 4 × 400 metres relay team, she won the Dutch Sports Team of the Year award in 2023.
Early life Cathelijn Peeters was born on 6 November 1996 in Dongen, Netherlands, where she also grew up.Beek, Yvonne van (2023-06-06). Cathelijn Peeters onder WK-limiet met persoonlijk record op 400 meter horden. AD. Retrieved 2023-08-05. Her cousin Silke Peeters is also a national level hurdler.
Senior career 2015–2023
Peeters competed in the combined events until 2020 and in the hammer throw until 2021. After 2021, she specialized only in hurdling and sprinting.
Peeters reached the national podium for the first time at the 2019 Dutch Championships, taking third place in the hurdles. She followed this with wins at the national championships in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023.
She set a personal best of 53.34 seconds for the 400 metres, gaining selection for the Dutch relay team at the 2022 World Athletics Championships. During the heats of the women's 4 × 400 m relay Peeters dropped the baton, causing the team to be eliminated.
She was a gold medallist in the 4 × 400 metres relay at the 2023 European Athletics Indoor Championships, helping break the Dutch record and championship record with a time of 3:25.66 minutes alongside Femke Bol, Lieke Klaver and Eveline Saalberg.Championship record from the Netherlands! (2023-03-05). Istanbul 2023. Retrieved 2023-08-05. On 27 August 2023, the Dutch team continued the success with a gold medal in the women's 4 × 400 metres relay at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary."Results 4 x 400 Metres Relay Women - Final (revised)", World Athletics, 27 August 2023. Retrieved 22 September 2023. Peeters won the Dutch Sports Team of the Year award with the Dutch women's 4 × 400 metres relay team in 2023."Estafettevrouwen 4x400 Sportploeg van het Jaar, roeicoach Meenhorst in de prijzen" (in Dutch), NOS, 20 December 2023. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
2024
On 3 February, she won the 400 m short track in 52.51 s at the IFAM Indoor Meeting in Ghent, Belgium. On 17 February, she improved her personal best in the 400 m short track to 52.01 s in the heats of the 2024 Dutch Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn, Netherlands. On 3 March, she ran the second leg of the 4 × 400 m relay short track, where she won a gold medal with Lieke Klaver, Lisanne de Witte, and Femke Bol of the Dutch women's relay team at the 2024 World Indoor Championships in Glasgow, United Kingdom.
On 28 April, she improved her personal best in the 400 m to 51.08 s at the SprintFest in Willemstad, Curaçao. On 4–5 May, she competed in the 4 × 400 metres relay at the 2024 World Athletics Relays in Nassau, Bahamas. With the Dutch women's team, she qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics in the second qualification round in 3:27.45 min."Estafettevrouwen pakken alsnog olympisch ticket, Bol leidt gemengde ploeg naar zilver" (in Dutch), NOS, 6 May 2024. Retrieved 3 June 2024. On 26 May, she won the 400 m hurdles in a new personal best time of 54.32 s at the IFAM Outdoor Meeting in Brussels, Belgium. On 28 May, she won the 400 m hurdles in 54.31 s, further improving her personal best at the Golden Spike Ostrava in Ostrava, Czech Republic.
On 10–12 June, Peeters competed at the 2024 European Championships in Rome, Italy. In the 400 m hurdles, she won a bronze medal finishing in 54.37 s after Femke Bol and Louise Maraval."Oppermachtige Bol prolongeert Europese titel 400 meter horden, Peeters pakt brons" (in Dutch), NOS, 11 June 2024. Retrieved 14 June 2024. In the women's 4 × 400 m relay, she won a gold medal with Klaver, De Witte, and Bol in 3:22.39 min, where she ran the second leg in a split time of 50.96 s."Estafettevrouwen vliegen op EK naar titelprolongatie 4x400: 'Ongelofelijk'" (in Dutch), NOS, 12 June 2024. Retrieved 14 June 2024."Women 4x400m Results - European Athletics Championships 2024", Watch Athletics. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
Personal bests Information from her World Athletics profile unless otherwise noted.
Individual events +Personal best results for individual eventsEventResultVenueDateNotes100 metres11.99 sTilburg, Netherlands18 August 2024(Wind: 1.0 m/s)200 metres23.89 sTilburg, Netherlands18 August 2024(Wind: 1.4 m/s)200 metres short track24.25 s Dortmund, Germany6 January 2024300 metres44.63 s Ghent, Belgium2 January 2016300 metres short track400 metres51.08 sWillemstad, Curaçao28 April 2024400 metres short track51.56 s Apeldoorn, Netherlands23 February 2025800 metres2:17.38 min Ghent, Belgium11 January 2020800 metres short track60 metres hurdles8.83 s Ghent, Belgium26 December 2021100 metres hurdles14.11 sAntwerp, Belgium21 August 2021(Wind: +0.4 m/s)200 metres hurdles28.63 sUtrecht, Netherlands9 August 2019(Wind: +0.5 m/s)400 metres hurdles54.31 sOstrava, Czech Republic28 May 2024High jump1.59 mGemert, Netherlands1 June 2019Long jump5.23 mEindhoven, Netherlands15 July 2018(Wind: +1.7 m/s)Shot put10.45 m Apeldoorn, Netherlands3 February 2019Hammer throw45.80 mBergen op Zoom, Netherlands7 August 2021Javelin throw27.99 mGemert, Netherlands2 June 2019
Season's bests Year 400 m 400 mindoor 400 mhurdles 2013 – – 71.10 2014 – – 67.99 2015 – – – 2016 – 62.25 67.19 2017 61.01 60.57 65.24 2018 – 59.31 62.53 2019 57.37 58.21 59.80 2020 57.94 56.78 60.25 2021 56.50 55.76 58.17 2022 53.34 53.56 56.03 2023 51.73 52.94 54.56 2024 51.08 52.01 54.31 2025 52.52 51.56 55.85 Key:
Combined events + Personal best results for combined eventsEventResultVenueDateHeptathlon4772 ptsGemert, Netherlands2 June 2019Pentathlon short track3447 pts Apeldoorn, Netherlands3 February 2019
Team events +Personal best results for team eventsTypeEventTime m:sVenueDateRecordNotesWomen's4 × 400 metres relay3:19.50Paris, France10 August 2024"Athletics – Women's 4 x 400m Relay Final Results", Olympics.com, 10 August 2024. Retrieved 10 August 2024.Teamed with Lieke Klaver, Lisanne de Witte and Femke Bol. Peeters' split time for the second leg was 50.43 seconds.4 × 400 metres relay short track3:25.07 Glasgow, United Kingdom3 March 2024"Bol leidt estafettevrouwen naar wereldtitel 4x400 meter, mannen pakken brons" (in Dutch), NOS, 3 March 2024. Retrieved 3 March 2024.Third national team of all time."All time Top lists – Senior – 4x400 Metres Relay Short Track Women", World Athletics, 3 March 2024. Retrieved 3 March 2024. Teamed with Lieke Klaver, Lisanne de Witte, and Femke Bol."Results – 4 x 400 Metres Relay Women - Final", World Athletics, 3 March 2024. Retrieved 3 March 2024. Peeters' split time for the second leg was 51.99 s.Mixed4 × 400 metres relay3:10.81Paris, France2 August 2024Teamed with Eugene Omalla, Lieke Klaver, Isaya Klein Ikkink. Peeters' split time for the anchor leg was 50.19 seconds."Athletics – 4 x 400m Relay Mixed – Round 1 – Revised – Results", Olympics.com, 3 August 2024. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
Competition results Information from her World Athletics profile unless otherwise noted.
World Athletics Rankings Highest overall and event World Athletics Rankings per year. Year 200 m 400 m 100 mhurdles 400 mhurdles Heptathlon Overall 2019 1591"World Rankings Women's 400m (300m-500m)", World Athletics, 6 August 2019. Retrieved 22 September 2023. 304"World Rankings Women's 400mH", World Athletics, 30 July 2019. Retrieved 22 September 2023. 574"World Rankings Women's Heptathlon (Pentathlon ind.)", World Athletics, 24 December 2019. Retrieved 22 September 2023. 5930"World Rankings Women's Overall Ranking", World Athletics, 31 December 2019. Retrieved 22 September 2023. 2020 1300"World Rankings Women's 400m (300m-500m)", World Athletics, 31 March 2020. Retrieved 22 September 2023. 321"World Rankings Women's 400mH", World Athletics, 31 March 2020. Retrieved 22 September 2023. 568"World Rankings Women's Heptathlon (Pentathlon ind.)", World Athletics, 21 January 2020. Retrieved 22 September 2023. 5716"World Rankings Women's Overall Ranking", World Athletics, 31 March 2020. Retrieved 22 September 2023. 2021 967"World Rankings Women's 400m (300m-500m)", World Athletics, 18 May 2021. Retrieved 1 June 2024. 910"World Rankings Women's 100mH (50mH-55mH-60mH)", World Athletics, 28 December 2021. Retrieved 22 September 2022. 140"World Rankings Women's 400mH", World Athletics, 21 December 2021. Retrieved 29 August 2023. 594"World Rankings Women's Heptathlon (Pentathlon ind.)", World Athletics, 5 January 2021. Retrieved 22 September 2023. 2776"World Rankings Women's Overall Ranking", World Athletics, 28 December 2021. Retrieved 1 June 2024. 2022 1556"World Rankings Women's 200m", World Athletics, 11 January 2022. Retrieved 22 September 2023. 304"World Rankings Women's 400m (300m-500m)", World Athletics, 21 June 2022. Retrieved 1 June 2024. 907"World Rankings Women's 100mH (50mH-55mH-60mH)", World Athletics, 4 January 2022. Retrieved 22 September 2023. 62"World Rankings Women's 400mH", World Athletics, 18 October 2022. Retrieved 30 August 2023. 1198"World Rankings Women's Overall Ranking", World Athletics, 26 July 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2023. 2023 126"World Rankings Women's 400m (300m-500m)", World Athletics, 29 August 2023. Retrieved 2 September 2023. 19"World Rankings Women's 400mH", World Athletics, 29 August 2023. Retrieved 2 September 2023. 366"World Rankings Women's Overall Ranking", World Athletics, 12 September 2023. Retrieved 19 September 2023. 2024 77"World Rankings Women's 400m (300m-500m)", World Athletics, 5 May 2024. Retrieved 19 May 2024. 11"World Rankings Women's 400mH", World Athletics, 30 June 2024. Retrieved 19 July 2024. 225"Women's Overall Ranking", World Athletics, 24 September 2024. Retrieved 19 December 2024. 2025 12"World Rankings – Women's 400mH", World Athletics, 15 April 2025. Retrieved 27 April 2025. 214"World Rankings – Women's Overall Ranking", World Athletics, 22 April 2025. Retrieved 27 April 2025. Key:
International competitions