Werro edges closer to 800m mark as world records fall in…

European champion Audrey Werro came tantalisingly close to downing the oldest outdoor world record in athletics, finishing a little more than four tenths of a second off Jarmila Kratochvilova's 800m mark.

Roared on by a 25,000-strong capacity crowd at the Zurich Diamond League, the Swiss hit the final 100m almost in stride with the infield pacing lights which had been set for a world record.

However Werro, straining hard against the clock, could not quite find the finishing pace she needed, clocking 1:53.70.

Still, the third-fastest time in history shaves another tenth of a second off the 22-year-old's personal best and only increases the sense that she will break the record sooner rather than later.

"As far as the world record is concerned, I saw the light, but there was a lot of movement during the race and it was not calm," said Werro, who caused second-placed Femke Broeders-Bol to check as she overtook the Dutchwoman at the start of her kick for home on the back straight.

"I still had enough energy at the end of the race to accelerate and to stay in the lead. Yes, it was tight for the world record, it was not meant for today.

"I am so proud to be able to run those sub-1:54 times, which shows that I can run consistently and fast now and this is good for the future."

Werro has improved every year of her top-level career and now, having finished her studies and concentrating on the track, has shown ruthless consistency. She has four of the top-10 all-time 800m times, all clocked this summer.

For Britain's Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson, who withdrew from the meeting after her exertions in taking continental silver behind Werro in Birmingham, it only emphasised the challenge she faces in the event.

Not only does she have to contend with Werro's burgeoning form, but Broeders-Bol, the world 400m hurdles champion who has switched up to two laps this season, gave another impressive showing in her debut campaign over 800m.

The Dutchwoman, who took out the pace initially, clocked a new national record of 1:54.71, beating Hodgkinson's training partner and Commonwealth 800m champion Georgia Hunter-Bell, who finished in 1:55.03, into third.

Broeders-Bol's long, languid stride and sprint speed have already made an impression in the event and she is gaining tactical knowhow fast as she acclimatises to the bump and hustle of middle distance.

"I was hoping to be in these sort of fights, but to be honest, I didn't expect it at all in the first season," she said afterwards.

"I thought I needed at least one or two seasons to get into the 1:54s, but here I am."

When Athing Mu-Nikolayev, Hodgkinson's American nemesis who beat her to gold at the Tokyo Olympics and Eugene 2022, slipped off the scene, the Briton had hoped to dominate the 800m.

With less than two years until she defends her Olympic crown in Los Angeles however, new rivals are looking ever more threatening.

Hodgkinson, like Werro and Broeders-Bol, has qualified for the Diamond League final in Brussels on 4-5 September. It could be an intriguing benchmark for the season's end.

While Werro fell short in her world record attempt, two new marks were set in an astonishng night of action.

First, Brazil's Alison dos Santos defied expectations to smash the 400m hurdles world record.

The 26-year-old has been in excellent form this season, undefeated in the event, but there was little to suggest that Karsten Warholm's 2021 mark of 45.94 seconds was in danger.

But, with Warholm a distant second, Tokyo 2025 silver medallist Dos Santos cantered off the final hurdle and pushed through to clock 45.80 seconds.

His previous personal best stood at 46.29 and was set four years ago.

Just 75 minutes later, another world record fell in front of the 25,000-strong capacity crowd

Masai Russell, the Olympic champion, capturing the 100m hurdles mark was less surprising, considering the American has finished within a tenth of a second of Tobi Amusan's 12.12-second landmark five times in the past two seasons.

The 26-year-old celebrated her 12.09 clocking with a finger to her lips as the crowd erupted. Just like Warholm, Amusan had a prime view of her record being broken, finishing second.

Amy Hunt, winner of four golds at the European Championships earlier this month, found things tougher against some of the world's finest 100m runners.

Left in the blocks, the Briton had to watch on as Olympic champion Julien Alfred inflicted Melissa Jefferson-Wooden's first defeat over the distance in two years, edging out the American in a 10.70-second photo finish.