Story perspectives

Audrey Werro wins 800m gold, sets championship record

8/15/2026

Summary

Werro Sets Record

Audrey Werro of Switzerland won the women’s 800 m gold at the European Championships in Birmingham, setting a new championship record of 1:54.81, breaking the mark that had stood since 1982.
Werro fell in the semifinal, was reinstated after an appeal, and ruling also restored Lithuania’s Gabija Galvydyte to the final.
Keely Hodgkinson of Great Britain earned silver in 1:55.01, while Femke Broeders-Bol of the Netherlands took bronze with a national record of 1:55.54.

Summary

Hodgkinson Targets Record

The 1:53.28 women’s 800 m world record set by Jarmila Kratochvílová in 1983 is under pressure in Birmingham.
Keely Hodgkinson says she can run 1:53 after training with the record in mind following a 2025 thigh injury.
Steve Cram warned the record danger adds pressure to all finalists, a view shared by Audrey Werro, who named Hodgkinson her biggest hurdle after European gold.

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Werro Sets Record

Audrey Werro of Switzerland won the women’s 800 m gold at the European Championships in Birmingham, setting a new championship record of 1:54.81, breaking the mark that had stood since 1982.
Werro fell in the semifinal, was reinstated after an appeal, and ruling also restored Lithuania’s Gabija Galvydyte to the final.
Keely Hodgkinson of Great Britain earned silver in 1:55.01, while Femke Broeders-Bol of the Netherlands took bronze with a national record of 1:55.54.

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