Ahead of Thursday’s Diamond League stop in Zurich, 22-year-old reigning European 800m champion Audrey Werro has expressed quiet confidence that she will eventually break one of track and field’s longest-standing and most hotly debated world records.
The mark in question, 1 minute 53.28 seconds, was set by former Czechoslovakia runner Jarmila Kratochvilova back at the 1983 World Championships in Helsinki, where she also claimed the 400m gold to secure a historic double. That time has stood unbroken for 41 years, a rarity in elite athletics that has fueled decades of speculation. While Czechoslovakia ran a state-sponsored systematic doping program throughout the era Kratochvilova competed, the runner has never tested positive for performance-enhancing substances and has repeatedly denied all allegations of cheating.
Werro’s rapid rise up the all-time rankings has put the historic record within striking distance. The young Swiss runner clocked 1:53.80 at a meet in Paris this past June, a personal best that pushed her to third on the women’s 800m all-time world list and just 0.52 seconds off Kratochvilova’s 1983 mark. This season alone, Werro has notched three of the 10 fastest women’s 800m times in recorded history, and has improved her personal best in eight consecutive competitive seasons, a streak of consistent improvement unmatched by any elite middle-distance runner of her generation. Earlier this month, she upset British Olympic gold medalist Keely Hodgkinson to take the European title in Birmingham, defying home crowd expectations to claim the top spot on the podium.
Werro attributed her explosive breakout to a major lifestyle shift: she completed her university studies one year ahead of schedule, clearing her schedule to devote all her energy to professional training, competition and recovery. “Now I’m just focused on athletics and I just have more time for the competition, the training, the recovery, everything,” she explained, adding that two years of targeted work on mental toughness has also paid major dividends this season. Her iconic post-race celebration – mimicking the outstretched claws of a lion – traces back to childhood, when her father told her she raced too timidly and encouraged her to channel a lion’s ferocity on the track.
As the elite field prepares for the Zurich 800m, top contenders have gathered for the final Diamond League race before the series final in Brussels on September 4-5. Hodgkinson, one of Werro’s top rivals, has withdrawn from the meet, opening the door for other top middle-distance stars to challenge for the win. Dutch star Femke Bol, who already holds the 400m hurdles world title won at the 2025 Tokyo World Championships, will line up against Werro in what is shaping up to be one of the most anticipated races of the 2025 outdoor season. Bol only transitioned to the 800m distance this season, but has already defied all expectations: she finished just 0.08 seconds behind Werro in Lausanne last week, and took bronze at the European Championships in Birmingham. “I didn’t expect to be this fast already – to run a national record already – so it has been very nice to surprise myself with my level,” Bol said of her rapid adaptation to the longer distance. With Hodgkinson out, Great Britain will be represented solely by Georgia Hunter-Bell, the 2024 World Championships silver medalist who has already claimed national and Commonwealth titles over 800m this season.
The Zurich Diamond League will run from 19:00 to 21:00 BST on August 27, with the women’s 800m set to start at 20:41 BST. UK viewers can catch the race live on BBC Three, BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app.