Werro

European 800m champion Audrey Werro has backed herself to overhaul one of athletics’ oldest and most controversial world records.

Jarmila Kratochvilova, representing the then Czechoslovakia, clocked one minute 53.28 seconds in 1983 and the mark has remained untouched in the 43 years since.

While a systematic doping programme of athletes was in place in the country during her career, Kratochvilova never failed a doping test and has denied cheating., external

Werro, still only 22, ran 1:53.80 in Paris in June, moving up to third in the event’s all-time list and to within half a second of Kratochvilova’s time.

“Things have happened really fast,” said Werro, on the eve of Thursday evening’s Diamond League meeting in Zurich.

“I was not prepared for a world record this year. I just want to focus on running fast and winning some races and I think with this mentality the world record will fall one day. But I don’t know when.”

Werro, a multiple title-winner at youth level, has improved her personal best in each of her last eight seasons and is now consistently within range of the world record.

This year the Swiss has registered three of the 10 fastest times in history.

Werro’s triumph was all the more impressive given she suffered a nasty fall in her semi-final on Thursday, before later being reinstated into the final.

Replays showed the left hand of France’s Anais Bourgoin had clipped Werro’s right foot. But, clutching her chest in pain as she jogged across the line, she still faced a race against time to recover.

That drama led to a congested 10-athlete final – but, despite Briton Jemma Reekie’s best efforts, there only ever appeared three contenders for gold.

Hodgkinson had twice beaten Werro during the indoor season – including to win her first world title – but was stunned when the European under-23 champion surged past her at the Stockholm Diamond League this summer and produced the first sub-1:54 clocking since 1983.

Hodgkinson, who achieved the first major outdoor title of her career at the European Championships in 2022 before retaining the title in Rome two years ago, vowed not to allow that to happen again.

But Werro crashed her bid to become the first British woman to win three consecutive European titles in the same event, proving she will be a force to be reckoned with on athletics’ biggest stages over the coming years.

Hodgkinson can also expect Broeders-Bol, third in 1:55.54, to only improve with World Championship gold up for grabs next year, following the rapid progress made by the two-time world 400m hurdles champion since switching events this season.