Werro extends near-record streak as Broeders-Bol impresses in outdoor 800m debut at Ostrava

Werro extends dominance over two laps

Swiss 22-year-old Audrey Werro continued her spectacular 800m season on Tuesday at the Golden Spike meeting in Ostrava, Czechia. A week after shocking Keely Hodgkinson in Stockholm with 1:53.98, the third-fastest time ever, Werro again overpowered a field that included eight women under two minutes. She took the lead early, followed the pacemaker through 400 metres in under 56 seconds, and hit 600 metres in 1:25.73. After that point, she pulled clear of Dutch star Femke Broeders-Bol and crossed the line in 1:54.45 (BBC reported 1:54.55). The time, the second-best of her career, slots her as the eighth fastest woman in history.

The 43-year-old world record of 1:53.28, set by Jarmila Kratochvilova in 1983, survived the night but Werro’s proximity has heightened anticipation. Kratochvilova was in the stands to watch the race.

Broeders-Bol’s promising outdoor start

Femke Broeders-Bol, the 26-year-old Dutch athlete (BBC listed her as 25), made her long-awaited outdoor debut at 800 metres. The two-time world 400m hurdles champion and world indoor record holder over the flat 400m announced her switch to the metric half-mile in October. She followed Werro’s fierce early pace, staying in contention through 600 metres, before Werro’s surge stretched the gap. Broeders-Bol clocked 1:57.13, a personal best that makes her the third fastest Dutch woman ever over the distance, behind only Olympic champion Ellen van Langen and multiple world champion Sifan Hassan. Her indoor 800m best had been 1:59.07, set in February.

It was so cool. Also hard, but I enjoyed it.

The performance, given a foot tendon problem that sidelined her for months this year, resets expectations for the summer. She will race the 800m again on 21 June at the Fanny Blankers-Koen Games in Hengelo.

Lyles sets 150m world best

Noah Lyles closed the meet with an emphatic run over the unofficial 150-metre distance. The Olympic 100m champion stopped the clock at 14.67 seconds, well under the previous curved-track best of 14.92 set by Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson. South Africa’s Sinesipho Dambile also dipped under the old mark with 14.78, while Australian teenager Gout Gout finished third in 14.96.

Dutch depth and Spanish record

Nadine Visser overcame a sluggish start to win the women’s 100 metres hurdles in 12.65, just ahead of Poland’s Pia Skrzyszowska.

I wasn't ready for it yet.

Taymir Burnet placed third in the 100 metres with 10.13 as South African Bayanda Walaza took victory in a personal best 9.94. Samuel Chapple led most of the 1,000 metres before Australia’s Peter Bol passed him on the final bend to win in 2:15.13; Chapple was second in 2:15.20. Spain’s Jesús David Delgado broke his own national record in the 400 metres hurdles with 48.11, finishing second behind Brazil’s Matheus Lima (47.64).