Keely Hodgkinson settled for second in a hotly-anticipated women’s 800 metres World Athletics Ultimate Championship final won by her Swiss nemesis Audrey Werro.
One of the most exciting storylines of the 2026 season has been the emergence of a generational women’s 800m field, led by Hodgkinson, European champion Werro and Dutch former hurdler Femke Broeders-Bol, who announced last year she would be focusing on the 800m.
The trio delivered on Saturday night in Budapest, where Werro got out in front early and held off a home straight kick from the Briton to claim $150,000 (£110,828) in prize money, crossing the line in one minute 55.88 seconds.
open image in galleryOlympic champion Hodgkinson, who claimed £55,415 as the runner-up, finished in 1min 56.26secs, and Broeders-Bol third, 0.48s further back.
Hodgkinson’s training partner Georgia Hunter Bell was the runner-up in a women’s 1500m final won by Poland’s Diamond League champion Klaudia Kazimierska.
The British Olympic bronze medallist was bidding for a fourth major title in 2026 after winning Commonwealth 800m and European 1500m gold as well as the world indoor 1500m title, but she came up just 0.17 short, crossing the line in 3:57:72.
It was a reversal of last month’s European podium in Birmingham, where the Briton beat the Pole, who set a world-leading 3:54.05 at the Diamond League earlier this month.
open image in galleryHunter Bell still pocketed £55,414 in prize money for finishing second in her 20th race of the season.
Hunter Bell found herself a bit bunched in but managed to break free just before the bend at the end of the back straight on the final lap and battled Kazimierska all the way to the finish.
Earlier, Matthew Hudson-Smith finished fifth in a 400m final won by Botswana’s Collen Kebinatshipi in a national record 43.39.
Max Burgin and Ben Pattison bowed out after the 800m semi-finals, but Ireland’s Mark English, who won an historic European title last month in Birmingham, booked a place in Sunday’s final.
Romell Glave and Jeremiah Azu both ducked out of a 100m semi won by world champion Oblique Seville.
The Jamaican was the fastest of the semi-finalists in 9.90. Three other men – the United States’ Kenny Bednarek and Christian Coleman, as well as Botswana’s Olympic 200m champion Letsile Tebogo – all qualified with sub-10 second times.
PA