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

Audrey Werro got knocked down, but she got up again to win the first major senior title of her career in the women’s 800m final at the European Championships in Birmingham on Friday night (August 14). 

The Swiss, reinstated after taking a tumble during Thursday’s semi-finals, brushed off any lingering bumps or bruises to break the championships record and take gold in 1:54.81, denying home favourite Keely Hodgkinson a third successive European title. Femke Broeders-Bol equalled the Dutch national record with a time of 1:55.54 for bronze.

“Mixed emotions,” said Hodgkinson after a race in which Werro had led from around 200m. “I think, with that level of competition, any medal is a really good achievement so it’s another one to add to my collection and I can never be disappointed with that.

“I’m defending champion and I wanted to do that but I knew it was going to come down to the wire and I really thought I was going to win today. I guess it just wasn’t meant to be. I didn’t do anything wrong - it’s just one of those things. 

“Audrey wanted to take it on and, with that wind, I was happy to let her. We’re all great athletes and I knew it was going to be close. I’ll look forward to the next match-up. It’s really motivating that it’s such a competitive event. I love it and I think it brings out the best in me. 

“That’s championship racing. You don’t know how it’s going to go. Sometimes you have a good day, sometimes it’s a bad day. I think I had a pretty good day but it just didn’t go the way I wanted it to.”

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