Werro outpaces Hodgkinson to win inaugural Ultimate Championship 800m title

BUDAPEST, Sept 12 : Audrey Werro completed her rise from emerging talent to undisputed queen of the women's 800 metres on Saturday, leading from gun to tape to claim the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship title in the event and cap a remarkable undefeated season.

The 22-year-old from Switzerland outpaced Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson and the Netherlands' Femke Broeders-Bol to cross the line in one minute 55.88 seconds, the latest chapter of a breakthrough season that has reshaped the women's two-lap race.

Hodgkinson was second in 1:56.26, while Broeders-Bol faded to third after sitting on Werro's right shoulder for 700 metres.

"I am just so happy with everything I've had and with the race I ran tonight," Werro said. "We have won every race I have done this year during the outdoor season. It is really crazy but, at the same time, it is something I have worked for and now I am getting the result."

Werro pocketed $150,000 for the victory, part of the event's $10-million prize pot that is the richest in the sport.

"I do not know what I will do with the prize money, maybe I will use it to improve my career and also enjoy a little bit of it and do something I have wanted to do," she said.

THREE-WAY RIVALRY

The women's 800m had been one of the most anticipated events of the championship, bringing together the three athletes who have driven the distance to unprecedented levels this season.

Werro arrived in Budapest as the overwhelming favourite after a sensational campaign in which she posted 1:53.70, the third-fastest time in women's 800 metres and the quickest recorded in 43 years.

The Swiss runner had repeatedly beaten Englishwoman Hodgkinson throughout the season, won the European title and emerged as the athlete