Werro advanced to European 800m final after fall in Birmingham semifinal

Fall on the final bend

Audrey Werro, the 22-year-old Swiss runner who has posted the fastest women's 800m time in 43 years this season, was leading her semifinal at the European Athletics Championships at Alexander Stadium in Birmingham on Thursday when she tumbled on the final bend. At 12:12 local time, a loud groan went through the stadium as Werro, who had led the field through a balanced 58.8-second opening 400m, hit the ground hard. Video footage from multiple angles showed that France's Anais Bourgoin, the French record-holder, made contact with Werro's right foot, causing her right foot to turn inwards and clip her left calf before she stumbled onto the rail and fell. Werro got back to her feet and jogged across the line in 2 minutes 35.35 seconds, finishing last in her heat. The fall also brought down Lithuania's Gabija Galvydyte, who finished in 2:03.59.

Werro, visibly shaken with a bleeding knee, hip scrapes, and brake marks on her race shirt, said she did not know what had caused the fall.

I was in good shape and a second after, I was on the ground. I really don't know what happened. I have to watch on the video. I hope we can do something and tomorrow I can run maybe.

Successful appeal

Swiss Athletics filed an immediate protest. Inside the stadium, journalists, Swiss Athletics representatives, and Werro's manager Julien Nuoffer waited nervously for a ruling. After approximately 40 minutes of deliberation, officials reinstated Werro after reviewing footage that confirmed Bourgoin's left hand had touched Werro's right foot. Galvydyte was also advanced to the final. The rules require athletes to finish the race in order to appeal, which is why Werro's decision to jog across the line proved critical.

Werro described her front-running tactics afterward.

It was a deliberate choice to control the race and manage the pace. I think running at the front is always safer, but today it was a little risky.

Scotland's Jemma Reekie won the disrupted heat in 1:58.61, navigating the chaos to move up from fourth at 600m. Bourgoin finished second and Veronica Vancardo, the other Swiss athlete, third. All six runners who stayed on their feet broke two minutes.

Hodgkinson and Broeders-Bol qualify

The second semifinal produced no such drama. Britain's Keely Hodgkinson, the 24-year-old reigning Olympic champion, led from the gun and crossed the line in 1:57.38, with Dutchwoman Femke Broeders-Bol, a two-time world champion over 400m hurdles now racing the 800m in her first year in the event, finishing second in 1:57.46. All eight women in that heat broke the two-minute barrier.

Hodgkinson told the BBC she heard the crowd react to Werro's fall.

I heard an 'ooh' from the crowd, which is never a good sign.

She added that she was looking forward to the showdown.

The excitement makes me excited. I can't wait to step out there. It brings out the best in me.

Friday's final

The women's 800m final is scheduled for Friday evening at Alexander Stadium, with Werro, Hodgkinson, and Broeders-Bol expected to contest the gold. Werro ran 1:53.80 at the Paris Diamond League on June 28, the third-fastest women's 800m time in history and the closest anyone has come to the world record of 1:53.28 set by Czech Jarmila Kratochvilova in 1983. About 35 fans from CA Belfaux, Werro's youth club in Courtepin, had gathered outside the stadium. Her father Claude said he was relieved, and her mother Philomène said the emotions of the past hour had been terrible but that the family was extremely happy it had worked out.