The oldest world record in track and field history stretches all the way back to 25 July 1983 – to the same week, in fact, that Elton John’s I’m Still Standing was released in the UK. But this increasingly looks like the year that Jarmila Kratochvilova’s imposing women’s 800m record may finally tumble.
Britain’s Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson reckons she can break Kratochvilova’s record time of 1min 53.28sec in London next month. The trouble she faces is that the brilliant 22-year-old Swiss star Audrey Werro has pushed ahead in the race to achieve the two-lap equivalent of landing on the moon.
On a Paris night where the Olympic 100m champion Noah Lyles suffered a shock defeat, and Britain’s Georgia Hunter Bell won over 1500m again, Werro gave further notice of her staggering talent by running the third-fastest 800m in history.
Beforehand, Werro had promised she would take her first proper crack at the world record and she proved as good as her word. She tracked the pacemaker Myrte van der Schoot who went through halfway in 55.35 before cutting loose.
She was through 600m in 1:25.27, just outside world-record pace, before finishing in 1:43.80 – 0.18 quicker than when beating Hodgkinson in Stockholm earlier this month.
“It is not the world record but I am still really happy with my time,” Werro said. “I was a little bit late on the 600m mark. But next time I figure I can stay closer to the lights.”
Behind Werro was the Dutch athlete Femke Broeders-Bol, who having won the world 400m hurdles title last year has switched to the 800m and ran a big personal best of 1:55.60. However, the race for the world record looks to be between Werro and Hodgkinson.
Incredibly the Swiss athlete has now run three of the nine fastest 800m times in history in the last three weeks. However, she confirmed afterwards that she will not race over 800m again until she meets Hodgkinson at the European Championships in Birmingham in August. That promises to be some clash with medals – and possibly more – on the line.
“It is easier when I am in a race with other athletes at the same pace as me,” said Werro. “With Hodgkinson it is always easier to run fast. If the world record is still on in Birmingham I will try in Birmingham.”
The men’s performance of the night came in the 1500m, as Australia’s 20-year-old Cameron Myers smashed a strong field to win in 3:28.00.
“I wasn’t sure too sure if I had it today,” said Myers, who set a national record. “But given the atmosphere, including the weather and other factors, it was great that everything came together.”
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Myers, who beat France’s Azeddine Habz into second, also confirmed that he was setting his sights on the mile at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow next month, where he will face Britain’s world champions Josh Kerr and Jake Wightman, with the latter finishing third in Paris in 3:29.95.
In the women’s 1500m, Hunter Bell continued her fine season by winning in a season’s best 3:55.63. Having tracked the Australian Jessica Hull and the Ethiopian Freweyni Hailu, Hunter-Bell made her move with 200m to come to power to victory. Hailu finished second, while France’s Agathe Guillemot reeled in Hull to take third in a new national record.
There were also Diamond League records in the men’s and women’s 400m through Busang Collen Kebinatshipi and Marileidy Paulino, while Marco Arop won a men’s 800m at a canter, establishing a 20-metre lead on the back straight and coming home in 1:41.84. That time was nearly two seconds quicker than the Dutch athlete Niels Laros, second in 1:43.60, while Britain’s Ben Pattison was fourth.
The biggest surprise came in the men’s 100m as the Olympic champion Lyles suffered a surprise defeat to his compatriot Trayvon Bromell after a nightmare start. Bromell held on to win in 9.91, 0.01 ahead of Lyles, and afterwards promised he would go even quicker in the next Diamond League meeting.
“I pushed the wheel,” said Bromell. “I didn’t let the race get in my head. I know that I have so much more in my tank, the times and data from my biomechanics make me excited for the season. In Eugene, I will go nuts.”
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