European champion Audrey Werro fended off another staunch challenge from Femke Broeders-Bol to win the women’s 800m in the Diamond League final in Brussels on Saturday (5) evening.
After coming within 0.09 of Werro in Lausanne less than a week after the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham on 23 August, Broeders-Bol pushed Werro all the way to the line again.
Werro led through 600m in 1:24.87 and still had Broeders-Bol in her slipstream as they rounded into the home straight. The Dutchwoman moved wide and put Werro under sustained pressure all the way down the home straight but the Swiss star just clung on for victory in 1:54.75, her sixth sub-1:55 performance in 2026.
"I felt Femke Broeders-Bol putting me under pressure during the whole race and that absolutely pushed me to not slow down. Her presence is a big source of motivation for me to stay sharp going into next year," said Werro.
In her first season in the event, Broeders-Bol continues to defy all expectations. She was also rewarded with back-to-back sub-1:55 performances, taking the runner-up spot in 1:54.81 to miss her recently-set Dutch record by just 0.1 seconds.
"Running 1:54 and finish second in the Diamond League Final is really above my expectations," said Broeders-Bol. "Now I'm looking forward to running in Budapest."
A full rematch of the European Athletics Championships is anticipated at next weekend’s inaugural World Ultimate Championship in Budapest with Werro and Broeders-Bol as well as Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson - who split them with silver in Birmingham - all due to race.
Kazimierska's breakthrough year blossoms
Klaudia Kazimierska took her first ever Diamond League victory and she did so in style.
Arriving full of confidence having improved her Polish record to 3:55.59 on home soil in Silesia a fortnight ago, Kazimierska made another advancement up the middle distance hierarchy as she shattered that mark for victory in the 1500m in the Diamond League final.
The US-based Pole made an aggressive move with just over 200 metres remaining which yielded a comprehensive victory over a field including world silver and bronze medallists Dorcus Ewoi and Jessica Hull and recently crowned European champion Georgia Hunter Bell.
Kazimierska stopped the clock at a world lead and national record of 3:54.05 to displace Faith Kipyegon’s meeting record and climb to sixth on the European all-time list.
"I hadn't won anything this year and I wanted to finally win again. The result surprised me just as much as it did everyone else. I worked on a lot of small pieces and they seem to have clicked together wonderfully. This is the fruit of consistent work and I think the times will keep coming as I keep chasing wins and titles," said Kaziemierska.
Ewoi and Hull finished second and third in 3:54.72 and 3:54.73 respectively with Hunter Bell - who outkicked Kazimierska for the European title in Birmingham last month - a tired fourth in 3:56.40.
European champion Andy Díaz Hernández also took victory in the men's triple jump with an opening round mark and meeting record of 17.74m ahead of reigning world champion Pedro Pichardo from Portugal who improved to 17.51m in the sixth round.
