Audrey Werro runs 1:53.98 for third-fastest 800 m ever
audrey werro turned Sunday in Stockholm into a career-changing result, winning the 800 m in 1:53.98 and producing the third-fastest time in history. At 22, the Fribourg runner also cut 1.93 seconds from her Swiss national record and beat Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson on the line.
Werro in Stockholm
Werro's run put her 0.70 seconds behind Jarmila Kratochvilova's old world record, a gap that still leaves her in rare territory for the event. She had already won a Diamond League race in Rabat in 1:56.56 on her return, but Stockholm moved her into a different class of performance.
Hodgkinson finished in 1:54.33, which is the sixth-fastest time in history. That means Stockholm produced two of the quickest 800 m marks ever in the same race, with Werro ahead of a runner who is usually the reference point in major finals.
Rachel Klopfenstein Paces
Rachel Klopfenstein set the rhythm from the front and covered the first lap in 55.54 seconds before handing the race over to the contenders. She now competes for Mauritius, and her pace helped open the door to a fast closing section that Werro handled best.
The context around the time is severe. No woman had gone under 1:54 since 1983, when Jarmila Kratochvilova set the world record, so Werro's 1:53.98 sits in a lane that almost no one in the event has reached.
Swiss Record Shift
The Swiss national record fell by 1.93 seconds in one race, a large move at this level and one that gives Werro a new mark to build from immediately. The Stockholm result also stands beside her Rabat win as proof that the 1:56.56 she posted there was not a one-off return run.
For a 22-year-old from Fribourg, the practical change is simple: she is no longer chasing the best times in Swiss history, because she has already reset that bar. The next races will test whether this was a peak lap or the start of a new standard for her over 800 m.
