Swiss holds off Keely Hodgkinson to clinch title, while Femke Broeders-Bol ends first championships 800m with bronze.

Audrey Werro might have been knocked down, but she got up again to win the first major senior title of her career in hugely impressive style at the European Championships in Birmingham on Friday night (August 14). 

The Swiss, reinstated after being tripped and then finishing last during Thursday’s semi-finals, brushed off any lingering bumps or bruises with a show of real strength to break the championships record and take gold in 1:54.81, denying home favourite Keely Hodgkinson a third successive European title.

In her first championships 800m final, Femke Broeders-Bol equalled the Dutch national record with a time of 1:55.54 for bronze.

After that crashing fall, the watching world had wondered how much it might have taken out of Werro and how much it might affect her chances. But, if there was any lingering pain or difficulty, then the European under-23 champion certainly wasn’t showing it as she moved to the front after 200m. 

Werro was still leading as she hit the bell in 56.50, but was being tracked by Hodgkinson and Broeders-Bol who were happy to let her go to the front and bear the brunt of the blustery conditions. 

Coming off the final bend, it was still all to play for for the trio who are at the start of what promises to be a fascinating rivalry. Broeders-Bol, as she has been known do so well in the 4x400m relay, looked ready to make a late charge but it didn’t come, leaving a two-way fight for gold ahead of her. 

Hodgkinson pushed and, with around 50m to go, thought she was withing touching distance of gold. But Werro, who became the first woman in 43 years to run under 1:54 earlier this summer, has discovered new levels of finishing strength and was not to be denied.

Gone was the championships record of 1:54.41 that had been set by Olga Mineyeva of the Soviet Union back in 1982 and it wasn’t long until the victor was roaring in celebration – a tradition she began after her father told her to “to be like a lion”.

Second is not a place that sits well with Hodgkinson, whose outdoor season has not gone to plan – being beaten by Werro at the Stockholm Diamond League in June and then suffering a fall of her own last month, in training, that left her with deep cuts and swelling to her knees. 

“We're all going to win some, lose some. S**t happens,” she said. “Audrey fell over yesterday. She made it back. I know what that took out of me a few weeks ago, so incredible [credit] to her. Life goes on. I'll go back and train and just hope I get it next time.

“It doesn't sting because I was beaten by a great athlete. I think I put together a pretty good race. I don't think I did anything wrong. The thing about the 800m is you have a million different ways of going in your head. You have to think on your feet, but I think I covered every move well. I just didn't have enough.

“In that last 50m, I really thought I had it but she's a strong athlete and sometimes in sport you can want it so much but sometimes the really brutal part is that it can’t be enough.”