The Swiss athlete saw off the challenge of both Femke Broeders-Bol and Georgia Hunter Bell on a historic night of records in Zürich.

Audrey Werro edged closer to the world 800m record with another impressive display on home soil at the Zürich Diamond League (August 27).

In what was billed by some fans as 'the race of the year', the Swiss athlete improved her own national record with a stunning 1:53.70 to take the win.

Since the start of June Werro has dominated the 800m. She ran 1:53.98 to beat Keely Hodgkinson in Stockholm, clocked 1:53.80 to triumph over Femke Broeders-Bol in Paris and then saw off both of them to become European champion in Birmingham.

In Lausanne Broeders-Bol got within whiskers of Werro – the pair clocked 1:55.33 and 1:55.41 respectively – and the Dutch athlete left the city with a different race tactic in mind for Zürich.

Here Broeders-Bol tried to get in front of Werro and going into the final straight of the second lap it looked like the plan had worked. Broeders-Bol was slightly ahead of Werro at the 400m mark – with times of 55.74 and 55.99 – and by 600m they were almost level (1:25.27 v 1:25.28 in Werro's favour).

With a sold-out partisan crowd at the Stadion Letzigrund behind her, Werro kicked with 180m to go, passing Broeders-Bol on the final bend into the home straight.

Not only was Werro's winning mark a Diamond League record but she now holds three of the fastest five times in history, with only Jarmila Kratochvílová (1:53.28) and Nadezhda Olizarenko (1:53.43) ahead of her.

She has now run quicker than 1:55 on an astonishing five occasions this year, having also clocked 1:54.45 in Ostrava and 1:54.81 in Birmingham.

Werro, who is now training full-time after completing her studies, will be the likely favourite going into the 800m at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest.

"Yes I was expecting that [Broeders-Bol to challenge]," she told media afterwards. "I thought one day she [Broeders-Bol] would want to go in the front and it's always cool to change the scenario, so I found that great. It's always cool to run faster and faster and it shows that I'm consistent with these sub-1:54 times.

"I'm getting closer to the world record. It might not happen this season but I am heading in a positive direction. My consistency shows that it [Stockholm] was not just a lucky race."

For Broeders-Bol it marks another boundary broken. Since clocking 1:59.07 indoors in Metz back in February, the Dutch athlete has got progressively quicker and in Zürich broke the 1:55-barrier for the first time, improving her own national record with 1:54.71.

In what is her first season over two laps, the double world 400m hurdles champion has still never run over two minutes in any race. From securing a bronze medal at the European Athletics Championships to now going ninth on the 800m all-time list, Broeders-Bol is starting to master both the art of championships running and time trialling in the middle distances.

"That was a lot of fun," Broeders-Bol told AW. "After Lausanne we came up with a plan for me to take the lead. It was a little bit scary so I am proud of myself in the way that I ran it. I am still figuring out 'what is my race'. I wanted the race to be fast from the gun. It is a big learning process and I never expected all of this so far this season.

"I want to be open to new things and continue to learn. I was hoping for sub-1:55 but I never in a million years thought that would happen this year. Especially after I got injured after the indoor season. I am an athlete who wants to be better on the track. I can learn new things in the 800m and I am the underdog, so that is a relief."

Georgia Hunter Bell wasn't too far off the pace of either Werro or Broeders-Bol and she ran her second quickest ever time – only behind the 1:54.90 that secured her Olympic 800m silver in Tokyo – with 1:55.03 in Zürich.

It was the Brit's first time trial over 800m since placing second to Werro at last year's Weltklasse, following on from a summer where Hunter Bell became European champion in the 1500m and a Commonwealth gold medallist over two laps.

Hunter Bell later confirmed that she will do the 1500m at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship next month.

"God, like, it was a crazy race," the Brit said on the 800m in Zürich. "I have to say I feel like I ran as best I could and I really rated Femke. I wondered if she’d do something like that this season – just her speed. She doesn't feel it coming through at that pace, whereas for me coming through at 55, it is hard to hold on. Takes the sting out a bit. But I think it just shows the level that her and Audrey are at right now.

"Like, I have a lot of respect from the sidelines for Audrey, and then being in the race with her and seeing her able to go to batter her PB is so impressive. So, I can't be mad at that. It's a season's best for me and all set me up for going into the 1500m next week. I'm gutted it wasn't a 1:54 though."