Audrey Werro became the third woman in history to run under 1:54 min in the 800m with the fastest run in 43 years

Audrey Werro produced arguably the strongest performance of the Diamond League in Stockholm. The Swiss athlete produced a brilliant performance in the women’s 800m, not only overtaking world indoor record holder Keely Hodgkinson, but also achieving the third-fastest time in the outdoor event.

Last year’s European Women’s Rising Star became the third woman in history to run under 1:54 min. Audrey Werro, who attacked in the final metres, won in 1:53.98 min – a new meeting record, a new Swiss record, a Diamond League record and a world best of the season. Thus, Audrey Werro achieved the fastest women’s run since the world record of Jarmila Kratochvílova (1:53.28 min) from 1983. In second place in the all-time ranking of the discipline is Nadezhda Olizarenko with 1:53.43 min from 1980.

“I’m still reeling from it, I’m still in shock from this performance! I was in great shape today, I was mentally and physically ready, so it was a good day for me. It wasn’t my main goal to follow the pacer, but the race went so well that I had to run right behind him, and when they dropped out I decided to follow Keely as long as possible and gave it my all. It’s crazy, I need some time to come to terms with what happened, but I’m very happy with my time and everything else”, said Audrey Werro after the final.

Keely Hodgkinson set a new British record of 1:54.33 min for second place in Sweden, and American Roisin Willis improved her personal best and took third place with 1:57.56 min.

“Huge respect to Audrey – it was an incredible race from her and she helped me run faster today. I was happy that she pushed me throughout the race and then fought with me to the finish line at the end – but I won’t let that happen again”, said her opponent Keely Hodgkinson. “I didn’t expect that from her today and I thought she would come back to me at the end but such a surprise is good for me both and it’s really great for the race, it’s going much faster now. This is the first time I’ve run 400m and 800m back to back races but I didn’t feel like the 400m was in my legs yet. I’ve been focusing my training on the 400m recently and now it’s time to turn my attention back to the 800m training which shows that today is very encouraging for me. I have a plan and it’s only June so there’s plenty of time in such a busy season. It’s an exciting time to run the 800m. It brings out the best in me and I still believe in myself – the world record is still my goal in London next month, I still believe I can do it”, added she.