Birmingham: Audrey Werro claims 800m gold, Keely Hodgkinson takes silver

By Charlie Bradshaw — 14 August 2026 — 4 min read

Werro secures 800m title

Audrey Werro of Switzerland secured the gold medal in the women’s 800m final at the European Athletics Championships 2026 in Birmingham, denying Keely Hodgkinson a third consecutive title. The race, held in front of a sellout crowd of 23,000 at Alexander Stadium, was a highly anticipated event. Werro, who is 22 years old, finished with a championship record time of one minute 54.81 seconds.

Hodgkinson, an Olympic champion, finished in 1:55.01, earning her the silver medal. The competition was largely a three-way battle involving Hodgkinson, Werro, and Dutch athlete Femke Broeders-Bol. Werro’s victory marks her first senior international title, following a season where she became the fastest athlete in the event since the world record was established 43 years ago.

Hodgkinson described her emotions as “mixed,” acknowledging that any medal at that level of competition is a significant achievement. She stated that she could not be disappointed with adding another medal to her collection. However, as the defending champion, she had aimed for the gold. Despite believing she would win, Hodgkinson concluded that it “wasn’t meant to be” and that she “didn’t do anything wrong.”

This silver medal is Hodgkinson’s 12th senior international medal since she first medalled as a teenager at the European Indoor Championships five years ago. While Hodgkinson attempted to make her move on the final bend, similar to how Werro had previously prevailed in Stockholm in June, the Swiss runner maintained her lead.

British team’s performance and other events

Hodgkinson’s silver medal contributed to the British team’s overall count, which reached 10 medals over five days of competition. This achievement came approximately 20 minutes after Zharnel Hughes secured a silver medal in the men’s 200m final. Despite these successes, the host nation has conceded the top spot in the medal table to Italy, who currently hold five gold medals compared to the host nation’s four.

Werro’s triumph was particularly notable given a fall she experienced in her semi-final on Thursday, from which she was later reinstated into the final. Replays indicated that Anais Bourgoin of France had clipped Werro’s right foot. Despite this incident, Werro recovered to compete in the final, which featured 10 athletes. Although Jemma Reekie of Britain made efforts, the gold medal appeared to be contested primarily by the three leading contenders.

Hodgkinson had previously defeated Werro twice during the indoor season, including to win her first world title. However, Werro’s performance at the Stockholm Diamond League this summer, where she produced the first sub-1:54 clocking since 1983, marked a shift. Hodgkinson had won her first major outdoor title at the European Championships in 2022 and retained it two years ago in Rome, vowing not to let a similar outcome occur again. However, Werro’s win prevented Hodgkinson from becoming the first British woman to achieve three consecutive European titles in the same event.

In the men’s 200m final, Hughes, a world 100m bronze medallist in 2023, was leading off the bend but was overtaken by Owen Ansah of Germany. Ansah secured victory in 19.95 seconds, marking his first time under 20 seconds. Hughes, who holds the British record, finished with a time of 20.16 seconds. Ansah had matched Hughes’ season’s best of 20.04 seconds in the semi-finals before achieving an even faster time in the final.

Elsewhere in the championships, Katarina Johnson-Thompson concluded day one of the heptathlon in 17th position. She expressed happiness to be competing after a challenging season marked by injuries. Johnson-Thompson had cleared 1.83m in the high jump earlier in the day, moving her to tenth in the heptathlon rankings. This is her second appearance since winning bronze at the world championships last September.

Other events included Karsten Warholm’s victory in the 400m hurdles, securing his fourth European title in a row and breaking his own championship record. Nadia Battocletti completed a double, winning both the 5000m and 10000m races. In the high jump final, Gianmarco Tamberi achieved a gold medal with a jump of 2.32m.

The atmosphere in Birmingham was described as vibrant, with the stadium nearly sold out for the evening’s events.

Source: bbc.co.uk