Werro against Hodgkinson - duel as a world record chase

When Audrey Werro crossed the finish line on Sunday evening, she didn't throw her arms up. She did not scream. She didn't beat her chest. The Freiburg native just shook her head. "This time is crazy," she said later. It would take time for her to come to terms with it.

The 22-year-old had just delivered one of the greatest races in recent athletics history. She won the 800 m in Sweden's capital in 1:53.98 minutes, pulverizing her Swiss record by almost two seconds and becoming the first runner in more than four decades to break the magic mark of 1:54 minutes. Above all, however, she beat the woman who is currently regarded as the benchmark over the two laps of the track: Keely Hodgkinson.

It was more than just a victory. It was the preliminary highlight of a rivalry that could shape the 800 m race in the years to come. Audrey Werro and Keely Hodgkinson are still young at 22 and 24 respectively. Both push each other to performances that seemed almost unimaginable just a few months ago, especially for the Swiss athlete.

Torun made the start

Back in March at the World Indoor Championships in Torun, the pair were already in a league of their own. While the rest of the field battled it out for bronze, the duo decided gold among themselves. Back then, the Olympic champion and World Championship silver medallist came out on top. The Swiss athlete won silver and secured her first podium place at a major elite championship. Audrey Werro left Poland defeated, but with an important realization: she is now definitely one of the best in the world. And she now believes it more than ever.

"I believe that Kelly is capable of breaking the world record," Audrey Werro declared at a media meeting in Bern at the beginning of May. As it now turns out, this was not just an empty phrase, but an honest assessment. At the same time, she added a sentence that sounded bold at the time and seems almost prophetic today: "I also believe that I can beat Kelly. Nobody is unbeatable."

Anyone who meets the 22-year-old off the track encounters a young woman who still seems reserved. Audrey Werro speaks carefully, in short sentences, and hardly seeks the limelight. However, as soon as the starting gun goes off, she shows a different face. "I'm not the same person in competition as I am in everyday life," she says. "I now manage to be really tough in races." This transformation may have been the decisive step on her way to the world class.

Age-old world record shaky

Czech Jarmila Kratochvilova has held the world record since 1983 with a time of 1:53.28 minutes. For decades, this mark seemed like a relic from another era. Generations of runners failed to break it, including the intersex runner Caster Semenya. While the South African was considered physically advantaged due to her elevated testosterone levels, Kratochvilova's best mark dates back to an era when athletics did not have the doping problem under control. The biggest advantage of today's generation, on the other hand, lies in the significantly improved running shoes.

Audrey Werro attacked the world record in Stockholm without notice. She initially benefited from the perfect preparatory work of pacesetter Rachel Klopfenstein. Keely Hodgkinson attacked on the back straight, as she had often done before. But this time the story was different. Audrey Werro did not let herself be shaken off. She stayed with her - and overtook her in the final meters. The Brit ran a British record of 1:54.33 minutes. Nevertheless, it was not enough because Audrey Werro was even stronger that evening.

Both now know that they need the other to become even faster. Audrey Werro is just seven tenths of a second off the world record, Hodgkinson just over a second. The question after Stockholm is therefore: which of the two will break the mark first? Or will a competitor beat them to it? Top performances lead to further top performances. This is exactly what is happening at the moment. The women's 800m race is stronger than it has been for a long time. The discipline is on the move. At the end of May, the Swiss athlete won in Morocco's capital Rabat as part of the Diamond League - not against Keely Hodgkinson, but against strong competition from Africa.

Who will win gold?

The next chapter will follow in Birmingham in August at the latest. It will be a home European Championships for Keely Hodgkinson and the next big opportunity for Audrey Werro to compete with the Olympic champion. Once again, all eyes will be on the pair. Once again, the rest of the field will be trying to catch up. And again, the race could provide clues far beyond the awarding of gold.

A European Championship is primarily about medals and not about times. But that was also the thinking at the World Championships in Tokyo last September. In the end, three runners stayed under 1:55 minutes.