Werro reinstated in final after fall
Swiss athlete Audrey Werro has been reinstated in the 800m final following an appeal, setting up a highly anticipated showdown with Keely Hodgkinson and Femke Broeders-Bol in Birmingham on Friday.
Swiss athlete Audrey Werro has been reinstated in the 800m final following an appeal, setting up a highly anticipated showdown with Keely Hodgkinson and Femke Broeders-Bol in Birmingham on Friday.
Keely Hodgkinson's biggest rival for European 800m gold, Audrey Werro, has been dramatically reinstated in the final after falling in her semifinal heat on Thursday, August 13, 2026. This confirms a spectacular clash on Friday, August 14, where Olympic champion Hodgkinson, 22-year-old Swiss Werro, and Dutch athlete Femke Broeders-Bol, the world champion in the 400m hurdles who has moved up to 800m this season, will battle for the medal.
Werro was leading the first semifinal when contact with French athlete Anaïs Bourgoin occurred on the final bend. Video review showed that the back of Werro's right foot hit the left arm of the French competitor about 120 meters from the finish, sending the Swiss athlete face-first onto the track. Lithuanian athlete Gabija Galvydyte also fell in the incident.
"I don't remember what happened just before the fall. I felt the race behind me was quite tight, and then the fall happened. I'm fine, just a few scrapes," Werro told Guardian Sport.
Werro finished last in 2:35.35, clutching her chest, and initial results showed she was eliminated. However, after an appeal by the Swiss team and a review of the footage, both Werro and Galvydyte were reinstated in a final that will now feature ten competitors.
The second semifinal was without drama. Hodgkinson won in 1:57.38, just ahead of Broeders-Bol, while in the first heat, Britain's Jemma Reekie was fastest with 1:58.61.
Asked if she saw Werro's fall, Hodgkinson said: "I heard an 'ooh' from the crowd, which is never a good sign. I don't know what it looked like. You can't worry about what happened to others. I hope she's okay and that she'll be in the final for an exciting race."
The Olympic champion didn't hide her satisfaction with her time and her anticipation for the final. "Another 1:57, so I'm happy. The excitement makes me excited. I can't wait to get out there. I love a good challenge; I think it brings out the best in me. So, I hope it will be a really good race, a clean race, with no one falling tomorrow. No wind, please. I'll talk to the Etsy witch to make sure there's no wind," she added.
Broeders-Bol, who has moved from the 400m hurdles to the 800m this season, doesn't hide her ambitions. Her personal best over 400m is 49.17 seconds, a world indoor record, significantly faster than Werro's 50.80 and Hodgkinson's 51.14.
"One of the reasons I moved up to 800m is that I love racing, and tomorrow's final is the ultimate race," the Dutch athlete said.
Asked if she minds that the talk is about Hodgkinson and Werro rather than her, the four-time Olympic and world champion smiled. "Yes, it's different and quite nice. I've always said that being the favorite is a privilege because you know you're very strong on paper. But I feel like I've never slept this well and never been this relaxed. So I think it brings its own advantages."
Werro shocked the athletics world on June 28, 2026, when she ran 1:43.80 at the Paris Diamond League, the fastest women's 800m time in 43 years. It is also the closest anyone has come to the world record of Czech athlete Jarmila Kratochvilova, which has stood at 1:53.28 since 1983.
The women's 800m final at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham is scheduled for Friday, August 14, 2026.
