Audrey Werro Drops World Record Hint Ahead of Paris Diamond League Showdown

Swiss star Audrey Werro has hinted at possibly going for the 800m world record at the Paris Diamond League on Sunday.

Werro has been in the form of her life following a series of outstanding performances this season and just recently clocked a world-leading 1:53.98 at the Stockholm Diamond League. That is the third fastest time in history only behind the 1:53:43 clocked by Nadezhda Olizarenko in 1980 and the longstanding world record of 1:53:28 set by Jarmila Kratochvílova in 1983.

She then followed it with a 1:54.45 victory in Hengelo and this week, she also recorded a European 600m best of 1:22.85.

The 22-year-old admits she is surprised by how quickly she has hit top form, saying the times she is recording now is something she hoped to achieve sometime next year.

“It is really crazy and I wasn’t expecting such a strong time this year, maybe next year,” Werro said at the pre-race press conference in Paris on Saturday.

“But I feel like the last few years I have learnt a lot of things and I am really better in tactics. Just keeping the pace until the end and also mentally, I am more ready for any competition.”

In Paris, Werro will come up against Femke Broeders-Bol, who will contest her first 800m in a Diamond League race. The two-time world 400m hurdles champion has made an impressive start to life over two laps, finishing second to Werro in Hengelo in a PB of 1:57.16 before producing a dominant 1:57.41 victory in Ostrava.

Having been encouraged by her recent form, Werro has dropped a major indication that Kratochvílova’s 43-year-old world record will be under threat in the French capital.

"The pacemaker will run a world-record time and we will follow,” she said when asked about her ambitions on Sunday.

Others in the field include Australia’s Sarah Billings, 2025 world indoor champion Prudence Sekgodiso from South Africa and Botswana’s Oratile Nowe.