Audrey Werro became the first woman to break 1:55 in an 800-metre race at the European Athletics Championships.
The Swiss athlete achieved the landmark by winning the women’s 800 metres in Birmingham in 1:54.81. Her performance also set a championship record and placed her ahead of Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson.
The previous championship record was 1:55.41, set by East Germany’s Sigrun Wodars in 1982. Werro’s run therefore improved a mark that had stood for more than four decades.
The 800 metres requires two laps of a standard outdoor track. The event begins from staggered positions, but athletes break toward the inside after the designated break line, making positioning and timing especially important.