PARIS — Audrey Werro, a 22-year-old Swiss track athlete, ran the 800 meters in 1 minute, 53.80 seconds in Paris on Sunday, June 29, 2026. This time marks the third-fastest 800 meters performance in history and the fastest recorded since 1983.

Werro's performance occurred less than three weeks after she clocked 1:53.98 in Stockholm. In that race, Keely Hodgkinson, the Olympic 800 meters champion, finished second with a personal best outdoor time of 1:54.33, which ranks seventh on the all-time list for the women's 800 meters. Hodgkinson also ran 1:54.87 in Liévin, France, in February 2026, breaking the 24-year world indoor record for the 800 meters. Hodgkinson is 24 years old.

Dutch athlete Femke Broeders-Bol placed second in the Paris 800 meters race with a time of 1:55.60. Broeders-Bol is a two-time 400 hurdles world champion who has recently switched to the 800 meters event.

Jarmila Kratochvílová holds the women's 800 meters world record with a time of 1:53.28, set while representing Czechoslovakia. Nadezhda Olizarenko, representing the Soviet Union, ran 1:53.43 to win the 800 meters title at the 1980 Moscow Olympics. Werro's recent achievement follows her sixth-place finish in the 800 meters final at the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo, an event won by Lilian Odira of Kenya, where Keely Hodgkinson secured the bronze medal. Werro did not reach the semifinals in the 800 meters at the Paris Olympics in 2024.

Werro, who has become a professional athlete, commented on her recent time. "It's really very, very close," Werro said. She also expressed her satisfaction, stating, "I'm really just happy to have my personal best which is already unbelievable." Werro further noted that becoming a professional athlete has changed her routine. "I feel that the biggest change in my life is the fact that I have become a professional athlete," she said. "I am no longer at school, and I must say it was tough to juggle both. Now, there is no excuse as I have all the time in the world to just focus on the training, recovering and the sport itself."