Werro Clocks 1:53.70 as Two World Records Fall in Zurich

Audrey Werro ran the third-fastest women's 800m time in history as two world records fell during a remarkable Diamond League meeting in Zurich. BBC Sport reported that the 22-year-old Swiss European champion clocked 1 minute 53.70 seconds, missing Jarmila Kratochvilova's 43-year-old outdoor world record of 1:53.28 by 0.42 seconds.

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Werro stayed close to the infield pacing lights, which were calibrated to world-record speed, as a capacity crowd of 25,000 urged her through the final lap. She could not produce enough speed over the closing 100 metres to overhaul the mark, but still lowered her personal best by a tenth of a second. All four of Werro's entries among the 10 fastest women's 800m performances have come this summer.

Femke Broeders-Bol also delivered a major performance in her first season after moving up from the 400m hurdles. The Dutch athlete set a national record of 1:54.71 for second place, while Commonwealth champion Georgia Hunter-Bell of Britain took third in 1:55.03. Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson had withdrawn after winning European silver behind Werro in Birmingham. Werro, Broeders-Bol and Hodgkinson have qualified for the Diamond League final in Brussels on September 4-5.

The first world record of the Zurich meeting came from Brazil's Alison dos Santos in the men's 400m hurdles. The 26-year-old finished in 45.80 seconds, cutting 0.14 from Karsten Warholm's record set in 2021. Warholm was a distant second. Dos Santos entered the race unbeaten in the event this season, but his previous best was 46.29, recorded four years earlier.

About 75 minutes later, Olympic champion Masai Russell broke the women's 100m hurdles world record. The American ran 12.09 seconds, improving the 12.12 mark held by Tobi Amusan. Amusan finished second and saw her record broken from the track. Russell had already come within one tenth of the previous record five times across the past two seasons, according to the BBC report.

Elsewhere, Olympic champion Julien Alfred handed Melissa Jefferson-Wooden her first 100m defeat in two years, winning a photo finish in 10.70 seconds. Emmanuel Wanyonyi won the men's 800m in 1:41.76, short of David Rudisha's 1:40.91 world record. Cole Hocker won the men's 1500m as Jakob Ingebrigtsen placed fifth, while pole vault world-record holder Mondo Duplantis missed three attempts at 6.32 metres.