European Athletics Championships 2026: Hodgkinson Beaten by Werro

The women's 800m final at the European Athletics Championships inside a sold-out Alexander Stadium in Birmingham delivered immense excitement to 23,000 spectators as Britain's Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson was denied a historic third consecutive continental title by Switzerland's Audrey Werro in a thrilling showdown.

Entering as the most anticipated event of the championships, the race culminated in a high-stakes battle between Hodgkinson, the 22-year-old Swiss runner Werro, and Dutch contender Femke Broeders-Bol. Hodgkinson allowed Werro to dictate the pace on the opening lap before launching her signature move on the final bend—mirroring how the Swiss athlete had beaten her in Stockholm back in June—but Werro held firm to defend her lead.

Werro's triumph was all the more remarkable given that she suffered a nasty fall during her semi-final heat on Thursday, requiring a race against time to recover for the 10-athlete final. Crossing the line in 1 minute 54.81 seconds, Werro set a new championship record and claimed her first senior international title, while Hodgkinson finished closely behind at 1:55.01 and Broeders-Bol took third in 1:55.54.

"Mixed emotions. I think with that level of competition, any medal is a really good achievement and another one to add to my collection, so I can never be disappointed with that. But I'm defending champion, so I wanted to do that."

Keely Hodgkinson

For the 24-year-old Briton, the silver medal marks the 12th senior international podium finish of her career since first breaking through at the European Indoor Championships five years ago. Although Hodgkinson had previously beaten Werro twice during the indoor season, the Swiss runner turned the tables at the Stockholm Diamond League earlier this summer by recording the first sub-1:54 clocking since 1983.