Editor’s note: I must admit that the Women’s 800 meters delivered all season. Why? The key warriors often raced each other, and after Keely Hodgkinson had some injury issues, Audrey Werro and Femke Bol battled week after week!
Werro wins again
The women’s 800m has become the most intriguing race on the program this year. Keely Hodgkinson was the one to watch. She dominated the indoor season with a World Indoor record of 1:54.87, followed by gold at the World Indoors. Her outdoor season was hindered by a hamstring injury, with only 4 runs at 800m – wins in Pre and London and second place in Stockholm and the European Championship (both behind Audrey Werro).
2026 has seen Audrey Werro make great strides, winning Diamond League 800m titles in Stockholm, Rabat, and Paris. Lausanne and the Diamond League final in Brussels – plus the European Championship. At the same time, Femke Broaders-Bol who had forsaken the 400 hurdles to run the 800m was running faster that than anyone – including herself – was expecting so soon after the switch.
The Ultimate final took a predictable course with the big three dominating. The final result was:
1 Audrey Werro 1:55.88
2 Keely Hodgkinson 1:56.26
3 Femke Broeders-Bol 1:56.74
Werro, who controlled the race, commented: ” I am just so happy with the race I ran tonight. I did everything I wanted to do. I think we have won every race I have done this year during the outdoor season. It is really crazy, but at the same time, it is something I have worked for, and now I am getting the result. I do not know what I will do with the prize money; maybe I will use it to improve my career and also enjoy a little bit of it and do something I have wanted to do.”
Hodgkinson made a great effort to close on Werro but just could not get close enough. Her realistic assessment was: “I am actually quite proud of how this race turned out to be for me. I owe a lot to my team. I was aiming for the win today, and I ended up being pretty close. It was a great race. I have been working really hard this season and in the years before. This has been an incredible season. I really love to have this many competitive women competing at a really high level. Those are some amazing women; we all push each other. I enjoyed racing with them this season, and I hope they enjoyed it too. I am happy we made the women’s 800m interesting and that everyone wants to watch it. Hopefully next time I can be on top, but now it’s the end of the season, and I am proud of it. I survived the season so far. I have one more race coming up, and then I will take a much-earned break.”
It is remarkable what Femke has achieved in her first season and how well she has coped with adapting to a new event. She is always a great interviewee after races, telling it like it is: “My season is done and now I can say that I really love this event. I’ve loved all this year even more than I expected. Maybe I’m a bit disappointed with tonight’s result, but I have to ask: why? What do I want? This third place means a lot. Maybe I was a little bit tired, but I did a good job. Today was completely different from what I thought it would be. But we learn as we go on, and it’s a big discovery road, and I love discovering things. It’s so great. We are with three incredible girls here at the line; we are all from Europe, and we are pushing each other. I am sure we will get better and better next year.”
The women’s 800 in a World Championship year promises a lot. There is a lot to look forward to in 2027.
This was the sixth of 11 stories on the Ultimate Champs by Stuart Weir, who was on site in Budapest, Hungary, for RunBlogRun.
