Keely Hodgkinson’s reign as European champion has come to an end, with Audrey Werro taking the top spot in the 800m final in Birmingham. The 22-year-old Swiss athlete’s victory marks a new chapter in the sport, with a fresh wave of world-class rivals emerging to challenge Hodgkinson’s dominance.
Werro’s win was a significant upset, with Hodgkinson having been the favorite to defend her title. However, the young Swiss athlete showed great maturity and composure to hold off Hodgkinson and take the gold. The victory was all the more impressive given that Werro had suffered a nasty fall in her semi-final, but was able to recover and deliver a championship record-breaking performance.
Hodgkinson, who has been one of the most dominant athletes in the sport in recent years, was gracious in defeat, praising Werro’s performance and acknowledging that she had been beaten by a better athlete on the day. The British athlete has been open about her desire to break the world record, which has stood since 1983, and will be aware that she will need to be at the top of her game if she is to achieve her goal.
The emergence of Werro and other young athletes, such as Dutch star Femke Broeders-Bol, is set to create a new era of competition in the sport. Hodgkinson, who has been in the sport for five years, is looking forward to the challenge, saying ‘there have been so many rivalries over the last couple of years… I have only been in this game for five years, hopefully I’ve got another 10 in me.’
The 24-year-old Briton has a strong record of consistency, having won 12 senior international medals, and will be determined to reassert herself at the top of the sport. With the World Championships in Beijing and the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles on the horizon, Hodgkinson will be focusing on peaking at the right time and delivering when it matters most.
Former marathon world record holder Paula Radcliffe praised Werro’s performance, saying ‘Audrey Werro is still young and that was a huge amount of pressure… She pulled it together and took the race by the scruff of the neck.’ Radcliffe also noted that Werro ‘just had another gear’, which allowed her to pull away from Hodgkinson in the final stages of the race.
The women’s 800m has a new star in Audrey Werro, and the sport will be eagerly anticipating the next showdown between the young Swiss athlete and Keely Hodgkinson. With a new generation of athletes emerging, the competition is set to be fiercer than ever, and fans will be hoping for many more thrilling battles in the years to come.
