European Champion Audrey Werro Sets Sights on Historic 800m Record

European 800m champion Audrey Werro believes she can eventually break one of athletics' longest-standing world records after moving within 0.52 seconds of the mark this season. BBC Sport reported that the 22-year-old Swiss runner is not setting a date for an attempt, instead keeping her attention on racing quickly and winning.

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The women's 800m world record is 1 minute 53.28 seconds, set by Jarmila Kratochvilova of Czechoslovakia in 1983. It has survived for 43 years. A state-backed doping system operated in Czechoslovakia during Kratochvilova's career, but she never failed a drug test and has denied cheating.

Werro ran 1:53.80 in Paris in June, placing her third on the all-time list and closer than half a second to the record. She has recorded three of the 10 fastest women's 800m times in history during 2026, a season in which she has established herself among the leading athletes in the event.

Her year also includes the European title in Birmingham earlier this month, where she beat Britain's Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson. Werro has improved her personal best in each of the past eight seasons after winning multiple titles at youth level, giving her progression a consistent record before this year's major breakthrough.

Werro told BBC Sport that finishing university a year ago has been the biggest change behind her performances. Becoming a full-time athlete has allowed her to devote more time to training, competition and recovery. She also said that work on the mental side of racing during the past two years is now showing in her results.

Her claw-like celebration reflects advice from her father to compete with the spirit of a lion after he considered her too timid in childhood races. Werro now says her best approach is to pursue fast times and victories without forcing a deadline for the record. Her 1:53.80 performance has supplied the clearest numerical evidence yet that the 1983 mark is within reach, although it remains unbroken.