<\/p>\n
This season has witnessed an extraordinary arms race between three of the greatest female 800m runners in history. But, as so often over the summer months, it concluded with the sight of Audrey Werro going nuclear.<\/p>\n
There were some in the press seats who wondered whether the brilliant 22-year-old Swiss might be tired and vulnerable, whether Britain\u2019s Olympic champion, Keely Hodgkinson<\/a>, or the fast-rising Dutch star Femke Broeders-Bol could take advantage. But at these Ultimate Championships in Budapest, Werro proved again she was 2026\u2019s ultimate performer as she took the $150,000 first prize with another dominant display.<\/p>\n Werro\u2019s formula is simple but devastatingly effective. Run the first 200m in a shade over 27sec to take the lead, control the race like a puppet master, and then apply the squeeze in the last 300m. As things stand, no one has an answer.<\/p>\n She applied it perfectly here, to win in 1min 55.88sec, with Hodgkinson second in 1:56.26 and Broeders-Bol a further half a second back in third.<\/p>\n Werro\u2019s statistics during the outdoor season are extraordinary. Since losing to Hodgkinson at the world indoor championships<\/a>, Werro has won all 14 events she has entered, run four of the 10 fastest times in history, and took gold at the European championships<\/a>. Indeed, the only time she has failed to cross the line first was when she was tripped up in the semi-finals in Birmingham.<\/p>\n After this latest win she described her season as \u201creally crazy\u201d and suggested she would use her first prize to improve her training. God help her rivals if that is truly the case.<\/p>\n The scary thing for Hodgkinson and Broeders-Bol? Werro is 22, and only started full-time training this year after finishing her studies. Jarmila Kratochvilova\u2019s 43-year-old world record is already within striking distance. Would anyone be surprised if she found the 0.43 needed to topple it in 2027?<\/p>\n However, it would be foolish to write off Hodgkinson, who confirmed that she had torn a hamstring during the European championships, which meant she was unable to do the speed work needed to compete with Werro.<\/p>\n \u201cI think, on the outside, people might think I\u2019d be disappointed with that, but I\u2019m actually quite proud of how I approached that,\u201d said Hodgkinson. \u201cI didn\u2019t even know I was going to be here. It was very much touch and go. I was really going at it with rehab.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been a bit of a frustrating season, but I think overall I\u2019ve finished second in the world, and I can\u2019t really be too hard on myself with that,\u201d she added. \u201cAnd congrats to Audrey, as well. Incredible season, absolutely incredible, dominant. Yeah, I look forward to racing her again next season.\u201d<\/p>\n That comment was a measure of Hodgkinson\u2019s class after a frustrating year, which started with a world indoor 800m record and a world indoor title. But she has not been able to show the same form after badly scarring her knees in a fall in Eugene in July, and then tearing her hamstring last month.<\/p>\n \u201cI felt good,\u201d said Hodgkinson. \u201cI think with the injury I had to prepare a bit like Tokyo last year. I had to just take my foot off speed and focus more on strength.\u201d<\/p>\n Earlier in the evening Hodgkinson\u2019s training partner Georgia Hunter Bell also finished second behind Klaudia Kazimierska after a thrilling 1500m.<\/p>\n
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