Hodgkinson second to Werro after hamstring tear

Keely Hodgkinson was again denied a major prize by rival Audrey Werro - but revealed she had overcome a torn hamstring to make the start line at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship.

Britain's Olympic 800m champion sustained the injury while competing in the European Championship final less than a month ago, when she was dethroned by 22-year-old Swiss sensation Werro.

Hodgkinson was forced to miss Diamond League races in Zurich and Brussels, and said following her second-place finish in Budapest that it was "touch and go" whether she would be fit to compete at the sport's new global event.

Werro controlled Saturday's 800m race from start to finish, winning in one minute 55.88 seconds to underline her position as the event's current leading athlete.

Despite her injury setback, Hodgkinson overtook Femke Broeders-Bol on the home straight for second in 1:56.26.

"On the outside, people might think I'm disappointed - but I'm actually quite proud of how I approached that," Hodgkinson told BBC Sport.

"When was Europeans? Four weeks ago. I unfortunately tore my hamstring during that race, so I didn't know if I was going to be here.

"It's been a bit of a frustrating season but, I think overall, I'm finishing second in the world and I can't really be too hard on myself for that."

Each time the leading women's 800m trio have met this season, it has been billed as one of the races of the year. Each time, it has delivered enthralling action.

Since beginning 2026 with a dominant indoor season in which she won world indoor gold and broke the indoor 800m world record, Hodgkinson has been second-best in meetings with Werro.

Making remarkable progress in her first season as a full-time athlete, Werro continues to uncover what, increasingly, appears to be potential of history-making proportions since completing her university studies.

Forty-three years had passed since a woman had run a sub-1:54 800m before this season. Werro achieved that three times this summer to close in on Jarmila Kratochvilova's 1983 record of 1:53.28.

Although not required to go as fast on this occasion, she showed her maturity by controlling the final before surging to victory.

Hodgkinson will be pleased to have still had enough to overhaul two-time world 400m hurdles champion Broeders-Bol, who has made rapid progress in her first season since switching events.

On her burgeoning rivalry with Werro and Broeders-Bol, Hodgkinson said: "I honestly love it. I think it's really great for our sport and for women's sport to have so many amazing women pushing each other.

"I'm happy to be part of it. Hopefully, next time, I'll come out on top.

"I'm always there fighting. That's something to be proud of and take into the future. I'm only 24 and hopefully I'll be around for a lot longer."

Although she missed out on the title, Hodgkinson, who will end her season at Athlos next weekend, pocketed $75,000 (£55,000) for her efforts.

Athletes are competing for the biggest prize pot in the sport's history at the Ultimat Championship, with a total of $10m (£7.4m) on offer across three days of action.

It is hoped that the condensed, innovative format, introduced to bring together the world's best athletes at the end of a season which otherwise would have lacked a global championship, can help shape the sport's future.

Vivaldi, Reiki and sauna sessions with training partner Hodgkinson.

That is how Georgia Hunter Bell reset to go agonisingly close to her fourth major title of a sensational season.

The 32-year-old's remarkable return to the sport she had given up until late 2022 continued with European, Commonwealth and world indoor gold medals this year.

But a busy season for Hunter Bell - this was the Olympic bronze medallist's 20th race - appeared to catch up with her at last week's Diamond League final, where she faded to fourth.

After finishing runner-up to Poland's Klaudia Kazimierska by 0.17 seconds in a brilliant head-to-head down the home straight in Hungary, Hunter Bell - who clocked 3:57.72 - told BBC Sport: "I'm so proud of myself. I've done absolutely everything I could this year.

"I had to get myself into a stronger place mentally after last week. I didn't have the buzz that I usually do walking out.

"I listened to a lot of Vivaldi's Spring, a very hopeful song. I did Reiki to try and get rid of any bad energy.

"I went to the spa with Keely - she made me sit in the sauna for like 20 minutes and sweat out all the bad energy. And I worked with my coaches to get my belief and hunger back. It was definitely there today on the home straight."

In Saturday's penultimate race, Amy Hunt was disappointed by her eighth-place finish in a stacked women's 100m final, won by American world champion Melissa Jefferson-Wooden ahead of Olympic gold medallist Julien Alfred.

After winning her first individual global medal with 200m silver last year, the 24-year-old achieved a historic four gold medals at last month's Europeans.

The next challenge, and ultimately Hunt's ambition, is to replicate that on the global stage - but she was unable to get close to Jefferson-Wooden, who triumphed in a world-leading 10.62 seconds.

Hunt, who will return for the 200m on Sunday, told BBC Sport: "I feel a bit disassociated right now. That's the first time dealing with having a 100m semi, then having to regroup and go back out [for the final].

"I don't think that I did myself very proud in that race but I'm lucky to be able to go to sleep tonight and come back out tomorrow in my more favourite event and see what happens."

European champion Matthew Hudson-Smith faded to fifth in 44.28 seconds in the men's 400m final, as Botswana's Collen Kebinatshipi's ran the joint-fifth fastest time in history in 43.39.