Recently crowned European 800m champion Audrey Werro just held off Femke Broeders-Bol for victory in the 800m on home soil in the Lausanne Diamond League on Friday (21) evening.
Having allowed a gap to develop behind the pacemaker Myrte van der Schoot who passed through 400m in an over-zealous 54.64, Werro took up the running down with 300 metres remaining, passing the 600m checkpoint in a fast 1:25.10.
Werro still had the 18-year-old Ethiopian Saida Tsehaye in her slipstream with Broeders-Bol another stride back but the home favourite came into the home straight with a two metre lead from the Dutchwoman who moved around Tsehaye having relinquished her position on the back straight.
But what looked to be a near-certain victory with 80 metres remaining turned into a close run thing. Werro began to tire visibly midway down the home straight but just held on for the victory ahead in 1:55.33 to break Keely Hodgkinson’s meeting record of 1:55.69 from last year.
"I really enjoyed the race, especially with all the fans who came to support me. The turnaround after the European Championships was very short, so I had to recover quickly, and I felt more tired than usual today. Despite that, I managed to win, so I'm very happy," said Werro.
Broeders-Bol just ran out of track but the 26-year-old continues to surpass all expectations - including hers - in her first season in the event. Just five days after anchoring the Netherlands to a third European title in the 4x400m in Birmingham, Bol secured the Dutch record outright with a 1:55.41 clocking.
Broeders-Bol had previously shared the national record with 1992 Olympic champion Ellen Van Langen, having clocked 1:55.54 to win bronze behind Werro and Hodgkinson in the European 800m final just a week ago.
"I'm very happy and proud, this was a great race after the European Championships. I'm not happy that I let someone pass me while I was still feeling good, but that is something I needed to learn, and I learned it through experience today.
"The Europeans gave me confidence, and this race gives me even more confidence that I belong with the best. I need to trust myself, keep pushing after 500 metres, stop protecting myself too much and simply enjoy racing," said Broeders-Bol.
Another victory for Zapletalová
Emma Zapletalová extended her unbeaten streak on the Diamond League circuit in 2026 with another accomplished victory in the women’s 400m hurdles.
Fresh from becoming the first Slovakian in 16 years to win a European title, Zapletalová breezed away from a strong international field which included Olympic silver medallist Anna Cockrell from the United States.
The pair was evenly matched as they rounded into the home straight but Zapletalová opened up a commanding gap over the last two barriers, winning in 52.41 - the second fastest time of her career so far and just 0.11 shy of her national record - ahead of Cockrell in 53.15.
Belgium’s Paulien Couckuyt put any lingering disappointment of just missing out on a medal behind her by smashing her national record. From lane one, Couckuyt finished third in 53.28 to break her previous national record of 53.87 by over half-a-second.
Portugal's Pedro Pichardo won the men’s triple jump with 17.44m. He survived a sixth round challenge from Algeria’s Yasser Mohammed Triki who jumped a wind-aided 17.43m on his final attempt.
Recently crowned European champion Andy Díaz Hernández from Italy had to settle for third with 17.20m.
Four-time European champion Miltiadis Tentoglou made it a European double in the horizontal jumps, winning the men's long jump with a marginally wind-aided 8.24m (+2.1) ahead of Switzerland's Simon Ehammer (8.13m) and Serbia's Luka Boskovic (8.07m).
Photos courtesy of James Rhodes