This season has witnessed an extraordinary arms race between three of the greatest female 800m runners in history. But, as so often over the summer months, it concluded with the sight of Audrey Werro going nuclear.
There were some in the press seats who wondered whether the brilliant 22-year-old Swiss might be tired and vulnerable, whether Britain’s Olympic champion, Keely Hodgkinson, or the fast-rising Dutch star Femke Broeders-Bol could take advantage. But at these Ultimate Championships in Budapest, Werro proved again she was 2026’s ultimate performer as she took the $150,000 first prize with another dominant display.
Werro’s formula is simple but devastatingly effective. Run the first 200m in a shade over 27sec to take the lead, control the race like a puppet master, and then apply the squeeze in the last 300m. As things stand, no one has an answer.
She applied it perfectly here, to win in 1min 55.88sec, with Hodgkinson second in 1:56.26 and Broeders-Bol a further half a second back in third.
Werro’s statistics during the outdoor season are extraordinary. Since losing to Hodgkinson at the world indoor championships, Werro has won all 14 events she has entered, run four of the 10 fastest times in history, and took gold at the European championships. Indeed, the only time she has failed to cross the line first was when she was tripped up in the semi-finals in Birmingham.
After this latest win she described her season as “really crazy” and suggested she would use her first prize to improve her training. God help her rivals if that is truly the case.
The scary thing for Hodgkinson and Broeders-Bol? Werro is 22, and only started full-time training this year after finishing her studies. Jarmila Kratochvilova’s 43-year-old world record is already within striking distance. Would anyone be surprised if she found the 0.43 needed to topple it in 2027?
However, it would be foolish to write off Hodgkinson, who confirmed that she had torn a hamstring during the European championships, which meant she was unable to do the speed work needed to compete with Werro.
“I think, on the outside, people might think I’d be disappointed with that, but I’m actually quite proud of how I approached that,” said Hodgkinson. “I didn’t even know I was going to be here. It was very much touch and go. I was really going at it with rehab.
“It’s been a bit of a frustrating season, but I think overall I’ve finished second in the world, and I can’t really be too hard on myself with that,” she added. “And congrats to Audrey, as well. Incredible season, absolutely incredible, dominant. Yeah, I look forward to racing her again next season.”
That comment was a measure of Hodgkinson’s class after a frustrating year, which started with a world indoor 800m record and a world indoor title. But she has not been able to show the same form after badly scarring her knees in a fall in Eugene in July, and then tearing her hamstring last month.
“I felt good,” said Hodgkinson. “I think with the injury I had to prepare a bit like Tokyo last year. I had to just take my foot off speed and focus more on strength.”
Earlier in the evening Hodgkinson’s training partner Georgia Hunter Bell also finished second behind Klaudia Kazimierska after a thrilling 1500m.
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When Kazimierska kicked for home with 200m remaining, Hunter Bell was the only athlete to immediately respond. It led to a thrilling duel along the final straight, with the Pole having just enough to win in 3:57.55, with Hunter Bell 0.15sec back in second.
It left Hunter Bell $75,000 richer and she was delighted with her performance, after what she felt was a flat display in the Diamond League final last weekend. “I thought it was a great race,” she said. “I’m really happy with that. I felt really comfortable the whole race. I chose to go on the rail because last week I ran 15 extra meters by running wide, and that really took the sting out of my kick at the end.”
Klaudia Kazimierska, after winning the women’s 1500m final. Photograph: Dénes Erdős/AP
When it comes to the cash, Hunter Bell has certainly earned it this year, having won gold at the world indoors, Commonwealth Games and European championships. “I mean, the money is interesting,” she said. “I’m not really thinking about that in the home straight. I’m just thinking about trying to get to the line first.
“But I’ve run 20 races this year. I’ve shown up to absolutely everything that I can, and done myself proud. I had 14 wins, three out of four majors won, one runner-up. I’m not going to sniff at 75k.”
One of the performances of the night came in the women’s 100m as the world champion, Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, ran a scorching 10.62sec to take victory. It was the fastest time in the world this year, too quick for the Olympic 100m gold medallist, Julien Alfred, who was second in 10.74, with another US star, Sha’Carri Richardson, third in 10.76. Britain’s Amy Hunt was last in 11.09.