Audrey Werro held off a late charge from Femke Broeders-Bol to win the women's 800m Diamond League final in Brussels, clocking a meeting record of 1 minute 54.75 seconds. The Swiss athlete won by just 0.06 seconds, with Broeders-Bol finishing second in a personal-best time. The race, described as boisterous and compelling, saw Broeders-Bol slip out of Werro's slipstream in the final 30 metres and surge towards the line. "I thought I had it," the Dutch star admitted afterwards. "I've never been so close."
Werro's resilience and Broeders-Bol's praise
Werro, who has repeatedly denied both Broeders-Bol and Keely Hodgkinson this season, gritted her teeth and found a little more to take the spoils once again. "I felt her coming," Werro said. "And I really enjoyed this battle because it pushes me to always work and not to really get in my comfort zone. I just keep in mind that one day I will get beaten. But now I just enjoy the first place."
Broeders-Bol, despite the narrow defeat, took comfort in knowing she had got closer than ever before, just 0.05 seconds behind Werro's winning time. When asked what made her Swiss opponent so good, she smiled: "You should ask her because I would like to know. But I think first of all she's very strong in her mind. I think she's a real fighter. She really goes for it with no fear and just all in. But I think just her last 200m is phenomenal. I think I could learn something from it but I think it's her mind combined with her physical. She's still so young, but so extremely fast."
Next showdown at Ultimate Championships
The good news for track and field fans is that Werro and Broeders-Bol will race one more time this season, at the Ultimate Championships in Budapest next week, with a $150,000 (£111,000) first prize on the line. Keely Hodgkinson's coach, Trevor Painter, confirmed to the Guardian that Hodgkinson has recovered from a minor niggle and will also be lining up.
Elsewhere, there was a surprise as Britain's Georgia Hunter Bell could only finish fourth in the women's 1500m. The Polish athlete Klaudia Kazimierska charged to victory in a personal-best 3:54.05. Hunter Bell admitted she had felt tired going into the race: "I was definitely tired. The past few days have been struggling to find the adrenaline to kick in, because I've had to tap into that so much this year. Three major championships, three golds, a bunch of Diamond League wins, British champs, like all this stuff. So you hit this point in the season, and it is hard to keep up that intensity."
Hunt's podium double and Bednarek's world lead
Amy Hunt capped a fine weekend by coming second in the women's 100m in 11.06 seconds, ahead of the 2023 world champion Sha'Carri Richardson in third. The Jamaican Tina Clayton won in 10.93 seconds, with a lightning start that had the race won in the opening 30 metres. Hunt, who had also finished third in Friday night's 200m, was not too disappointed. This was her 43rd race of the season, including 13 indoors, 15 over 100m, 11 over 200m and four relays, but she believes she still has something left for next week's Ultimate Championships.
"I'm super-happy with that," she said. "My aim for this weekend was to come away with a podium finish, so to come away with two, and to also be the only athlete to actually attempt a double at this championship, I can be incredibly proud of that. It maybe wasn't a weekend for running quick times," she added. "But it was a weekend for really going head to head, and I find that's always one of my strengths – my ability to stay calm and have no fear and take on the best in the world."
There were plenty of fast times despite the conditions. The event started with Marileidy Paulino running a meeting record of 48.64 in the women's 400m to beat Henriette Jager, while the American Kenny Bednarek equalled the fastest 200m time in the world this year to win in 19.62 seconds. "I'm definitely happy with this result," said Bednarek, who will also run in Budapest next week. "To get the win under these cold conditions and a bit of sickness … I can't ask for more. Next week, if I execute well, I can drop a massive PB."
