2026 has been the yr of Audrey Werro. From an up-and-coming teen the Swiss has remodeled herself into the queen of 800m operating, operating three of the highest 5 quickest occasions in historical past and e, a second e Ultimate and the
The indicators had been there on the World Indoor Championships in March: n set a brand new indoor world document however Werro’s silver medal-winning time was nonetheless the fifth-fastest on a brief monitor in historical past. When the out of doors season started, she merely blew the sector aside, successful 16 of the 17 occasions she took to the beginning line. (We’ll come on to that seventeenth.) It was a season of astonishing dominance.
Talking to The Impartial over video name from her household house in Fribourg, Werro has a smile on her face as she recollects an “unbelievable” yr. She says: “Initially of the season, I used to be not anticipating to run that quick. It was actually an enormous shock for me, however I'm actually proud of all of the wins I had, and I'm additionally actually happy with the consistency.”
Werro has at all times been a expertise, a former under-20 and under-23 world champion and winner of the Diamond League Ultimate final yr. Even so her rise has been stratospheric: 0, a complete two seconds faster than her greatest from 2025, 1:55.91. “After I give it some thought, I do know that I educated actually laborious throughout the spring,” she says. “So that is simply the end result of all of the coaching.”
The PUMA athlete didn’t make any dramatic adjustments to her way of life or coaching plan earlier than her breakthrough season, however says all of it clicked into place now that she might dedicate herself to s full-time, upping her coaching from ten classes per week to round 12, having beforehand juggled it alongside ending her schooling.
In contrast to many athletes Werro hasn’t moved away looking for outcomes; she nonetheless lives along with her mother and father and trains at Membership Athlétique Belfaux, the membership she joined on the age of 9, and along with her unique coach, Christiane Berset Nuoffer. If it ain’t broke, don’t repair it, she says: “I really feel good, I’ve good outcomes with this construction, so I see no cause to alter. I'm actually near my household, so it might be laborious for me to go to a different nation to coach.”
A naturally shy and introverted persona, she stated it was a “lengthy path of studying” to get snug with what’s now her most popular front-running technique, which she started adopting to counteract her pure shyness. Her trademark ‘lion’ celebration, which got here from her father Claude telling her to be a lion and battle for herself on the monitor, has had an identical impact. “I'm not shy anymore on the monitor, however in life I'm nonetheless shy, so I believe I actually have two personalities. This yr, sure, I had a number of confidence in myself.”
Regardless of her astonishing outcomes athletics doesn’t solely outline her life, and she or he is unfazed by each the eye on her and the fast-moving nature of the game. “I really feel like there's a bit of bit extra stress [now] as a result of I gained a number of races this yr. Now I need to proceed successful, and I do know it's not potential to win each time you run, so I’ve to maintain that in thoughts – sooner or later somebody will beat me and it's simply regular.”
Outdoors her sport she has “calm” hobbies – studying, portray, drawing – and she or he has carried on studying English after ending college. “I believe it's necessary for me to nonetheless use my mind a bit of bit, as a result of it's additionally helped me to consider one other factor than athletics, and generally it's good to not take into consideration the coaching, the competitors.”
And it’s laborious to argue with how Werro approaches issues given her extraordinary success this yr. Her solitary defeat over the out of doors season got here s, when she was unintentionally tripped and fell, finally ending in final place earlier than she was superior to the ultimate by officers.
She sports activities a wry smile as she recounts the race. “After we are within the entrance, we’re not anticipating to fall as a result of it feels safer, however on the identical time behind me, I do know that the women are combating for the place. Over the last 100m I really feel my foot hitting somebody or one thing, I don't know in the mean time what occurred, however then I'm simply on the bottom and at this particular second I believe my dream of successful a medal is simply going away.”
The very first thing on her thoughts was ending the race. “I bear in mind once I'm within the final metre of the race, I'm already desirous about the following step. I'm like possibly 70 per cent positive that I’ll go within the remaining. On the identical time, I do know that if I'm not within the remaining, it's not the tip of the world. I do know that I’ve one other likelihood in two years. That was necessary for me to maintain that in thoughts.”
Her calmness within the face of the largest aim of the season doubtlessly going up in smoke is spectacular. She explains, “That is usually how I course of issues and for me it's necessary to essentially have a plan for the longer term. On the European Championships, the plan was I’m going within the remaining or I come again in two years for revenge. I believe that is additionally considered one of my strengths, that I can simply get up and proceed.”
It’s one thing she has labored laborious on, fine-tuning routine for the day of each race, and up to now two years she has enlisted the assistance of a sports activities psychologist, Janique Sciboz, to hone her efficiency. She says, “I'm at all times a bit of bit pressured, nevertheless it's a constructive stress that enables me to be targeted on the aim. I’ve a superb construction for the day so I do know each hour what I must do.”
Sciboz additionally gave her “keys” to assist her keep grounded and targeted, together with quick intervals of meditation. Werro explains: “It's a number of visualisation of the race, after which I even have some keys that I can do once I'm a bit of bit too pressured or once I'm not concentrated sufficient.”
Regardless of Werro’s dominance the ladies’s 800m r, along with her rivalry with Hodgkinson and the rapidly-improving 400m hurdles specialist Femke Broeders-Bol growing at tempo. Werro says she is grateful to have them pushing her on: “It undoubtedly helped me as a result of I do know that they’re actually near me and I can not simply relaxation on every little thing I already achieved this yr, I must nonetheless work. It’s a extremely constructive rivalry that we now have between us, it’s actually necessary to have a rivalry to simply proceed to progress.”
Werro’s main targets for 2027 are claiming a European indoor title within the spring and glory on the s in Beijing in September. However her greatest aim is easy: “I need to proceed to progress and to run quick. I really feel like I had a number of consistency this yr, and now it's simply simpler to construct on this consistency. And possibly to do the world document.”
After all, we now have to debate the world document, Jarmila Kratochvilova’s controversial determine which has stood since 1983. Werro got here inside 0.42s of it this yr, operating the quickest time in 40 years, however that mark nonetheless stands. How shut is she to toppling it?
She is measured as ever as she says: “I believe I'm undoubtedly able to breaking the world document. I simply must proceed coaching as a result of this yr I used to be actually near it. However I nonetheless maintain in my thoughts that the opposite athletes, Femke, Keely, are additionally actually robust, so possibly they’ll break the world document earlier than me. And that is simply life. So yeah, I believe my predominant aim is simply to run quick, and check out to not focus an excessive amount of on the world document.”
That calm laser-focus has already made her probably the most profitable 800m runners of all time – and it isn’t laborious to see her ascending to even larger heights in 2027.