When Audrey Werro was a child, she was so painfully shy that her father told her she had to become a lion every time she raced. In a European women’s 800m final for the ages, she followed that advice to the letter. As the 22-year-old Swiss superstar came around the final bend, she could feel Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson on her shoulder, waiting to strike.
The Dutch flyer Femke Broeders-Bol was also close enough to dream too. But Werro was ready to flash her teeth. It didn’t matter that she had been spiked by Broeders-Bol after 200m.
Or that she had led the pack into the face of a swirling wind for most of the race. The noise from the full house of 23,000 home fans was deafening as Hodgkinson tried to pass her on the outside. But the gap never closed.
Instead Werro took gold in 1min 54.81sec – a time that broke a championship record that had stood since 1982. It left Hodgkinson looking mightily disappointed after running 1:55.01 to take silver, with Broeders-Bol claiming bronze. But the Olympic champion was also gracious in defeat after.
I don’t think I did anything wrong. The thing about the 800m is you have a million different ways of going in your head but I covered every move well. I just didn’t have enough.” There was a moment, though, that she did believe.
So I decided to do a celebration with that when I crossed the line.” Before the final, Hodgkinson had asked the weather gods for no wind to help her bid for a third successive European title. But they had other ideas. It was whippy and blustery throughout.
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