Can Werro recover from heavy fall to challenge for 800m gold?

BIRMINGHAM, England saw Swiss athlete Audrey Werro secure her place in the 800-meter final after experiencing a fall during the semifinal at the European championships on Thursday. This fortunate outcome positions Werro for Friday night's gold medal match-up against reigning Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson and Dutch sensation Femke Broeders-Bol.

Werro was leading her heat at Alexander Stadium when she took a tumble. Video footage revealed that Anais Bourgoin's left hand made contact with Werro's right foot, resulting in Werro tumbling on the final curve. In late June, Werro had run the third fastest women's time ever: 1 minute, 53.80 seconds. Following her fall, Werro managed to rise and cross the finish line in 2:35.35.

She lodged an appeal regarding her placing, which was subsequently granted, granting her entry into the final. Werro expressed, "Everything was fine, and then all of a sudden, I was on the ground. I have a few scratches, and my bib number was torn off, but I'm alright. My body is unharmed." Hodgkinson, the British competitor who has often expressed a desire to break the 800-meter world record, claimed the other semifinal heat in 1:57.38, narrowly ahead of Broeders-Bol, who made an impressive debut in the 800 after transitioning from the 400 hurdles. The women's 800-meter world record stands at 1:53:28, set in 1983 by Jarmila Kratochvilova.