World Athletics Ultimate Championship: Keely Hodgkinson second to Audrey Werro despite recent hamstring tear

Each time the leading women’s 800m trio have met this season, it has been billed as one of the races of the year. Each time, it has delivered enthralling action.

Since beginning 2026 with a dominant indoor season in which she won world indoor gold and broke the indoor 800m world record, Hodgkinson has been second-best in meetings with Werro.

Making remarkable progress in her first season as a full-time athlete, Werro continues to uncover what, increasingly, appears to be potential of history-making proportions since completing her university studies.

Forty-three years had passed since a woman had run a sub-1:54 800m before this season. Werro achieved that three times this summer to close in on Jarmila Kratochvilova’s 1983 record of 1:53.28.

Although not required to go as fast on this occasion, she showed her maturity by controlling the final before surging to victory.

Hodgkinson will be pleased to have still had enough to overhaul two-time world 400m hurdles champion Broeders-Bol, who has made rapid progress in her first season since switching events.

On her burgeoning rivalry with Werro and Broeders-Bol, Hodgkinson said: “I honestly love it. I think it’s really great for our sport and for women’s sport to have so many amazing women pushing each other.

“I’m happy to be part of it. Hopefully, next time, I’ll come out on top.

“I’m always there fighting. That’s something to be proud of and take into the future. I’m only 24 and hopefully I’ll be around for a lot longer.”

Although she missed out on the title, Hodgkinson, who will end her season at Athlos next weekend, pocketed $75,000 (£55,000) for her efforts.

Athletes are competing for the biggest prize pot in the sport’s history at the Ultimat Championship, with a total of $10m (£7.4m) on offer across three days of action.

It is hoped that the condensed, innovative format, introduced to bring together the world’s best athletes at the end of a season which otherwise would have lacked a global championship, can help shape the sport’s future.