Stuart Hodge
Swiss favourite Audrey Werro holds off Keely Hodgkinson to clinch the inaugural women’s 800m title at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest; it follows last month’s European Championships in Birmingham, where she also managed to hold off the British Olympic champion
Last Updated: 12/09/26 9:20pm
Keely Hodgkinson took silver in the 800m final on day two of the World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest
Keely Hodgkinson settled for silver in a hotly anticipated women’s 800m final, won by her Swiss rival Audrey Werro
One of the most exciting storylines in athletics this year has been the emergence of a generational women’s 800m field, led by Hodgkinson, European champion Werro and Dutch star Femke Bol, the former hurdler who announced last year that she would focus on the event.
The trio delivered on Saturday night in Budapest, where Werro surged into an early lead and held off a late charge from the Briton to cross the line in 1:55.88.
Olympic champion Hodgkinson, finished in second, in 1:56.26 seconds, and Broeders-Bol third, 0.48s further back.
Keely Hodgkinson of Great Britain embraces Audrey Werro of Switzerland following the Women’s 800m Final in Budapest (PA Images)
Hodgkinson’s training partner Georgia Hunter Bell was the runner-up in a women’s 1500m final won by Poland’s Diamond League champion Klaudia Kazimierska.
The British Olympic bronze medallist was bidding for a fourth major title of 2026 after winning Commonwealth 800m and European 1500m gold, as well as the world indoor 1500m title, but fell 0.17 seconds short, crossing the line in 3:57.72.
It was a reversal of last month’s European podium in Birmingham, where the Briton beat the Pole, who had set a world-leading 3:54.05 at the Diamond League earlier this month.
Hunter Bell was boxed in but managed to break free before the bend at the end of the back straight on the final lap, battling Kazimierska all the way to the finish.
Earlier, Matt Hudson-Smith finished fifth in a 400m final won by Botswana’s Collen Kebinatshipi in a national record 43.39.
Max Burgin and Ben Pattison bowed out after the 800m semi-finals, but Ireland’s Mark English, who won an historic European title last month in Birmingham, booked a place in Sunday’s final.
Romell Glave and Jeremiah Azu both missed out on the 100m final after world champion Oblique Seville won their semi-final.
The Jamaican clocked the fastest time of the semi-finalists in 9.90 seconds, while three others – the United States’ Kenny Bednarek and Christian Coleman, and Botswana’s Olympic 200m champion Letsile Tebogo – also qualified in under 10 seconds.