Issue 416, sponsored by D+M Engineering PLLC
Audrey Werro wins clash of the titans
Last week, Birmingham, England, hosted the European Athletics Championships, and it was a fun event to follow, partly because as long as you registered, all of the coverage was free to watch and easy to access.
It also featured one of the best showdowns of the summer so far: Switzerland’s Audrey Werro vs. Great Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson vs. the Netherlands’ Femke Broeders-Bol in the 800m. Though they’d all raced each other this summer, Friday’s 800m final (which you can watch here) was the first time all three were in the same race together.
Hodgkinson, 24, is the reigning Olympic and World indoor champion, and she came into the season as the favorite. But Werro, 22, has surprised everyone, PRing by more than two seconds, running in the 1:53s twice, and remaining undefeated heading into the European Championships. Broeders-Bol, 26, has the most impressive resume of them all, but until this season, all of her accolades came in the 400m hurdles, 400m, or 4x400m relay. She’s a newcomer to the 800m, but her performances this season have surpassed most people’s expectations. (And how cool that she chose to switch to a new event when wins in the 400mH are much more of a sure thing for her.)
The showdown nearly didn’t happen, though. Werro was leading her semifinal race when France’s Anaïs Bourgoin, who had been squeezing Werro toward the rail, accidentally hit Werro’s foot with her hand, causing Werro to stumble and take a hard fall. Werro got up and jogged to the finish, and fortunately, race officials ruled that she and Lithuania’s Gabija Galvydyte, who also fell, would advance to the final, making it a 10-runner field.
Werro didn’t have much time to recover, but by the following day, you would never know about the setback. She and Hodgkinson shared the lead through 300m, setting a quick enough pace that they didn’t have to worry about traffic. With 500m to go, Werro moved to the lead, and though both Hodgkinson and Broeders-Bol put forth a valiant effort, neither could find the gears to catch Werro.
After hitting 400m in 56.5, Werro covered her second lap in 58.31 seconds, winning in a championship record of 1:54.81. Hodgkinson took second in 1:55.01, and Broeders-Bol was third in 1:55.54. She was thrilled to take 0.06 seconds off of her personal best and tie the Dutch record that Ellen van Langen set in the summer of 1992.
All three medalists seemed to recognize that they were part of something special. Hodgkinson clearly would have preferred to win, but she acknowledged that she, too, ran a good race. And Broeders-Bol seems perfectly willing to be a beginner (albeit an incredibly good one) in her new event. And it looks like they had fun making content together after the medal ceremony.
Two days later, Broeders-Bol also earned a gold medal, anchoring the Netherlands to a 4x400m win.
Werro attributes her big jump this season to the fact that she’s been a full-time professional athlete for a year now. She passed her A-levels in the summer of 2025, and she now has more time to train, recover, and focus on the sport. She has been with the same club, Club Athlétique Belfaux, since she was nine years old, where she’s coached by Christiane Berset Nuoffer. (For more on Werro’s background, this is a good article.)
After a rocky stretch, Nadia Battocletti wins distance double
In the past two years, Italy’s Nadia Battocletti, 26, has earned four World and Olympic medals and has repeatedly shown that she has the tools to excel at the championship level. But heading into the European Championships, her status was uncertain. She finished an uncharacteristic 13th in the 5,000m at the Rome Diamond League meet at the beginning of June, and then she didn’t race again until the Italian Championships in late July.
But Battocletti quickly dispelled any concerns about her readiness, using an incredible kick to win the 5,000m (15:37.84) and 10,000m (31:41.17). Hers is the kind of kick that is essentially required to earn medals on the track at global championships these days, but against this field, it looked otherworldly. In both events, she ran away from her competitors like they were standing still.
And during the event, more information emerged about her struggles earlier in the season. Apparently she was anemic, and she took a big step back from training, but in recent weeks, she has gotten back on track.
A huge thanks to D+M Engineering PLLC for supporting Fast Women this month
As dedicated runners, Muna and David Mitchell bring unique insights into our design work for D+M Engineering PLLC, a woman-owned, Austin-based engineering firm. We are proud to sponsor the Fast Women newsletter for the month of August. Stay tuned each week for more about us and why we are in your inbox on Mondays this month.
Engineers are hidden forces behind your running. From waking up to water and electricity for your coffee, or that needed bathroom stop, you have been relying on engineers to make your run possible. When you head out the door onto your local route, you are using systems designed by engineers with your movement in mind. That pedestrian bridge on your route was designed for you and all your friends running shoulder to shoulder. At your post-run brunch spot, engineers have been there ahead of you. That AC or heat that revive you was made possible by an engineer making sure that your running group would stay comfortable. If engineers have done their job right, you will never notice that we were there.
To learn more about our engineering services and community endeavors, please visit www.dplusmengineering.com or contact Muna Mitchell at muna@dplusmengineering.com.
Gesa Krause wins steeplechase title, and Lea Meyer’s comments spark controversy
The first thing I saw when I opened Instagram on Friday morning was a statement from Germany’s Lea Meyer, following her fourth-place finish in the steeplechase at the European championships. I copied the text into a translation site, and it read, in part, “I want to reiterate that the timing, the setting, and—above all—my choice of words yesterday were inappropriate, unprofessional, and unsportsmanlike. Going forward, I realize that as a highly emotional person, I should avoid the interview zone after a race like that.”
I hadn’t had a chance to watch the race at that point, but after that, I had to. Meyer led for most of the race, but on the final water barrier, which she hurdled instead of stepping on the barrier, she caught her trail leg and went down hard. Her German teammate, Gesa Krause, who had been shadowing her throughout, won gold (9:12.54), France’s Alice Finot was second (9:14.24), and Germany’s Olivia Gürth was third (9:15.33). Meyer got up and still managed to finish fourth in 9:17.07, but it’s understandable that she walked away from the race feeling frustrated.
It’s also true that her post-race interview, where she criticized Krause for not helping with the pace and said she still believed she was the best steepler in Europe, among other things, didn’t do her any favors. It sounds like she has learned from the experience, but it was also a little refreshing to hear an athlete’s unfiltered thoughts. I’m not one of those people who thinks that the sport needs more villains and trash talking. But this is about as close as we ever get to having that in the women’s distance events. Thanks in part to social media, everything is heightened these days, so I imagine the pile-on that followed—her post has more than 1,700 comments—only made her European Championships experience all the rougher.
Alisa Vainio, queen of consistency, wins marathon gold
Finland’s Alisa Vainio went into the European Championships marathon as the favorite, and instead of chilling for part of the race, she put the hammer down from the beginning and ran the entire race alone. She hit halfway in 1:10:40 and held on to win her first European title, running a championship record of 2:22:26 and winning by nearly five minutes.
In the last nine months, Vainio, 28, has run between 2:20 and 2:22 in the marathon four times. Sunday’s race was her third marathon of the year, and we haven’t even hit the best months of the year for marathoning yet. She ran her first marathon, a 2:33, in 2015, when she was 17—an unconventional start for sure, but it seems to be working for her.
Hungary’s Lili Anna Vindics-Tóth emerged from the chase pack to earn silver (2:27:21) and Great Britain’s Abbie Donnelly earned bronze (2:27:33).
Georgia Hunter Bell delivers under pressure in 1500m
Sixteen days after winning the 800m at the Commonwealth Games, Great Britain’s Georgia Hunter Bell stayed out of trouble early in a slow-starting race and then kicked to win the 1500m at the European Athletics Championships, running 4:07.78. University of Oregon grad Klaudia Kazimierska of Poland earned silver (4:08.80), and Portugal’s Patricia Silva won bronze (4:09.22). Hunter Bell was the only middle-distance/distance runner to win gold at both championships.
Before heading back to school, Pamela Kosgei completes Beach to Beacon/Falmouth sweep
Two weeks ago, Pamela Kosgei of the University of New Mexico and Kenya won her first-ever road race at Beach to Beacon 10K, and on Sunday, she backed that up with another win at the Falmouth Road Race, covering the seven-mile course in 35:25. She narrowly edged out Jess McClain, who finished less than a second back, also in 35:25.
Now Kosgei, 22, will head back to Albuquerque for her junior year of college. She confirmed to Fast Women that despite her brief road racing detour, she plans to continue competing in the NCAA this fall. And she’s clearly ready to go.
She defeated a very strong field that also included Everlyn Kemboi (third, 35:34), Emma Grace Hurley (fourth, 35:36), Mercy Chelangat (fifth, 35:55), Carrie Ellwood (sixth 35:56), Elise Cranny (seventh, 36:23), and Annie Rodenfels (eighth, 36:48). In the wheelchair division, Tatyana McFadden earned her eighth title, in 27:56.
On Friday night, Heather MacLean front-ran her way to a win in the Falmouth Mile, running 4:25.64. McKenna Keegan took second in 4:28.55, breaking 4:30 for the first time. (Falmouth Road Race results | Falmouth Mile replay)
Running Warehouse + Fast Women
I am thrilled to announce that I’m teaming up with Running Warehouse. Through this partnership, you can save on select items while also supporting Fast Women.
I’ve intentionally avoided affiliate programs over the years because none of them felt like the right fit. But as I’ve been a long time Running Warehouse customer, this partnership makes sense—and I especially love that you can support Fast Women while buying things you would have purchased anyway.
Here’s how it works: If you use this link to buy anything on the Running Warehouse website, your purchase will help support Fast Women. And, for newsletter readers only, you can use the code FASTWOMEN to save 20% on clothing and socks, and 10% on clearance shoes, nutrition, and hats. So in review, using my link helps Fast Women and using the code helps you.
Other News and Results
I’ve gotten a bit behind on life milestones here. Catching up: Emily Infeld’s baby arrived several weeks early, on July 30, Calli Hauger-Thackery’s baby was also about two weeks early. Susannah Scaroni had her baby on August 6, Gudaf Tsegay’s baby has arrived, and Laurie (Barton) Fierer announced last week that her baby was born in early July. And Allie Ostrander got married last week.
Valery Tobias won the Stumptown Twilight 800m in 1:59.83, and Carmen Alder won the 1500m in 4:06.40. (Results)
New pro Jadyn Keeler won the Canadian half marathon title, running 1:12:12 in Edmonton. (Results)
Morgan Jensen won San Diego’s America’s Finest City Half Marathon in 1:13:12. (Results)
Apparently Meghan Hunter ran a 1:57.76 800m time trial in Utah. Her official PR is 1:58.21.
Kaylee Mitchell said in an Instagram post that she got a little banged up and decided to end her season early.
Thanks to the person who made me aware of this post about Seattle Storm guard Natisha Hiedeman starting a public run club, giving people a chance to join her as she trains to meet her goal of running a marathon.
Podcast Highlights
I appreciated hearing Masai Russell talk a little about the contract side of the sport on RealTalkWithTee.
I featured Jessica Kain two weeks ago, and it was fun to hear that that prompted Carrie Tollefson to reach out and have her on C Tolle Run. And I was glad to hear that Kain is going to have some opportunities to race in Europe soon.
I was a little surprised to hear on Road to the Trials that Carrie Ellwood, who ran 2:22:53 for 10th at the Boston Marathon, didn’t sign with Asics until after the race. She was previously a first-grade teacher, but she quit her job and took a chance by going all in on running two years ago.
Additional Episodes: Breanna Sieracki on Road to the Trials | Canada’s Natasha Wodak on The Shakeout Podcast | Rabbit founder Monica DeVreese on I’ll Have Another | Colleen Quigley (who is getting into Hyrox) on Hurdle | 2:38 marathoner Maryann Gong on D3 Glory Days
I am currently in a stretch when I can’t do my job as well as I would like. On top of everything else, I am dealing with a moth infestation, and taking care of it is a multistep process that, among other things, requires cleaning out my house and thoroughly cleaning almost everything that remains. I think about moths 100 percent more than I think about running these days, and I can’t wait until moths are nothing but an afterthought. I expect that things, moth-wise and otherwise, are going to settle down at some point, but it might be a while. In the meantime, I hope you’ll bear with me.
Wishing you all a wonderful (and moth-free) week,
Alison
For someone who is thinking about moths more than running that was a damn good newsletter! I’ve been working too much and without you I would have no clue what was going on in the world of women’s running.
Moths or no moths, you are exceptional at this!