Switzerland’s Audrey Werro beats Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson for European 800m title
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Switzerland’s Audrey Werro crossing the finish line to win the women's 800m ahead of Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson.
PHOTO: REUTERS
BIRMINGHAM – Switzerland’s Audrey Werro continued her remarkable rise by holding off Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson to win the women’s 800m crown at the European Athletics Championships on Aug 14, a day after a heavy fall in the semi-finals.
The 22-year-old, who shocked the sport earlier this season by clocking the fastest time in 43 years, pulled away from the Briton over the final 150m to cruise through the finish line in 1min 54.81sec.
Crowd favourite Hodgkinson finished second in 1:55.01, while Femke Broeders-Bol, the two-time world champion in 400m hurdles, was third in 1:55.54 to continue her successful switch to the two-lap event.
This sets the stage for a tantalising rematch at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest in September.
Werro, whose career has skyrocketed over the past few months, showed both resilience and composure to recover from the semi-finals on Aug 13, when she took a hard tumble to finish last, but was reinstated for the final after it was determined that France’s Anais Bourgoin made contact with Werro’s right foot before the fall.
Her victory was another stunning chapter in her rapid ascent, and marked her first senior championship title.
“It’s been up and down over the last hours, I’m very happy with the medal,” she said.
After years of being the woman everyone else chased, Hodgkinson found herself looking at the back of the rapidly rising Werro. The Swiss led from the gun and over the final 200m, glanced sideways several times to ensure Hodgkinson was not coming up on her shoulder.
She need not have worried, as she surged down the home straight out of reach of the Olympic champion.
“A bit of mixed emotions,” Hodgkinson told the BBC. “I think with that level of competition, any medal is a really good achievement and another one to add to my collection so I can never be disappointed with that. But I’m defending champion so I wanted to do that.
“I’ve said all year, it’s really motivating to be in such a competitive event,” the 24-year-old added, on the calibre of the field. “I love it, I think it brings out the best in me. Championship racing, that’s what it’s all about.”
Werro ran a jaw-dropping 1:53.80 at the Paris Diamond League on June 28, the third-fastest time ever. The world record of 1:53.28 was set by Czech Jarmila Kratochvilova in 1983.
Karsten Warholm of Norway, meanwhile, raced to his fourth successive European title in the men’s 400m hurdles, clocking 46.63sec to break his own championship record.
“This means a lot and now I have more European golds than anyone before me in the 400m hurdles,” the 30-year-old told the BBC. “That’s what motivates me now I’m starting to become an old horse.”
Germany’s Emil Agyekum was second in 47.87sec, with Turkey’s Ismail Nezir (48.26) completing the podium.
In high jump, Italian Gianmarco Tamberi, who has struggled with injuries the past couple of seasons, cleared 2.32m to win his fourth European gold medal.
Oleh Doroshchuk of Ukraine earned the silver with 2.30m, while Italy’s Matteo Sioli (2.27m) bagged the bronze. REUTERS
