Audrey Werro is consistently among the world's best in the 800 m, but has yet to win an elite medal. This is set to change in Torun at the World Indoor Championships. Three races, one goal: finally precious metal.
21.03.2026, 05:00
SDA
The bill has been on the table for months. Audrey Werro knows it well. She felt it in her legs in 2025, in the final meters, when the finish line approaches but is still reached a touch too late. A year ago at the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing, the athlete from Freiburg missed out on bronze by just one hundredth of a second after falling out of the medal decision at the European Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn two weeks earlier.
And last September at the World Championships in Tokyo, the athlete from Fribourg, who had lifted herself to the top of the world rankings with the Swiss record (1:55.91) and as winner of the Diamond League final, only managed 6th place despite an impeccable performance. Now the bill is ready to be paid again in Torun.
The first step has been taken. In the preliminary heat on Friday afternoon, the soon-to-be 22-year-old controlled the race with aplomb and easily came through in under two minutes. A performance without wasting any energy and an important signal with regard to the demanding program. Because the route to the podium involves three races in three days. The semi-finals are scheduled for Saturday before the medals are awarded on Sunday evening (19:50).
The level of competition is high. Great Britain's Keely Hodgkinson, Olympic champion and three-time World Championship silver medallist, is the clear favorite. Behind her, Audrey Werro is on a par with the other medal candidates from Africa, Australia and the USA.
The form is right
The form is clearly in the western Swiss athlete's favor. This indoor season, she has been more consistent than ever before. She has stayed under 1:59 minutes four times in six races, including the Swiss indoor record (1:57.27 in Belgrade). In comparison: last winter, she only stayed under the two-minute mark once in eleven races. "Audrey's consistency with times under 1:59 minutes is a very good sign," says her coach Christiane Berset Nuoffer in Torun to the newspaper "Le Quotidien Jurassien". Her athlete has become faster and more stable.
But indoor competitions, where the space on the track is even tighter than outdoors, often follow their own rules. Here you don't just set the pace, you tactic, push and wait. Steps cross, elbows find their place, gaps open up - or not. Audrey Werro has already experienced this several times, and rarely as a professional. That's why she usually chooses the tactics of a front runner.
The series of narrowly missed successes feeds the impression of an open account and at the same time raises expectations. "People sometimes forget that Audrey is still very, very young," says Christiane Berset Nuoffer. The coach remains cautiously optimistic, but makes no secret of her ambitions: "The goal here in Poland is a medal."
Now a professional athlete
The environment has also improved. Since Audrey Werro passed her A-levels last summer, everyday life has become clearer and training more flexible. No more exams, no more compromises in the calendar, but more room for fine-tuning. Just like last time, when the training camp was moved to Magglingen for a few days due to the bad weather. Small adjustments that have a big impact in competitive sport.
The conditions for a medal at elite level are therefore better than ever. Form, environment and experience are right. Now the result should follow in Torun. Everything indicates that Audrey Werro is ready to finally turn her strong times into precious metal.
