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With British Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson, Swiss sensation Audrey Werro and Dutch phenomenon Femke Bol set to line up, tonight’s European Championship 800m final in Birmingham promises fireworks. On Saturday 5 September, the Allianz Memorial Van Damme will feature the same stellar line-up, joined by Kenyan world champion Lilian Odira.
The women’s 800m will be one of the absolute highlights of both the European Championships and the Allianz Memorial Van Damme, which this year serves as the Wanda Diamond League Final. The standard in the 800m has been exceptionally high this season. On 28 June, Audrey Werro stunned the world with a time of 1:53.80 at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Paris, the third-fastest time ever and the fastest since 1983. The 22-year-old Swiss supertalent remains unbeaten this season. But the competition is hot on her heels …
On 7 June, Keely Hodgkinson clocked 1:54.33 at the WDL meeting in Stockholm, making the 24-year-old Briton the sixth-fastest athlete of all time. The win in Sweden went to Werro, in 1:53.98. Unlike Werro, Hodgkinson already has an impressive résumé to her name: Olympic champion (2024), Olympic silver medallist (2021), bronze and two silver medals at the World Championships (2022, 2023, 2025), and two European titles (2022 and 2024). In 2021, Hodgkinson became Diamond League champion in the 800m at the age of just 19.
Femke Bol is ‘only’ 24th on the all-time 800m list with her 1:55.60, but the 26-year-old Dutch athlete only switched from the 400m hurdles to the 800m this season — the discipline in which she became world and European champion twice. It has been a successful switch, as Bol immediately established herself among the world’s elite. At the WDL meeting in Paris, she had to settle only for second place behind Werro, while in London she finished behind Hodgkinson.
Tonight’s European Championship final in Birmingham therefore looks set to be a three-way battle for the medals. At the Allianz Memorial Van Damme, another world-class athlete will join the field in the shape of Lilian Odira. The 27-year-old Kenyan is, after all, the reigning world champion over 800m. With the 1:54.62 she ran at last year’s World Championships in Tokyo, Odira sits eighth on the all-time list for the two-lap event. This season, she won the WDL meeting in Eugene.
The Allianz Memorial Van Damme is celebrating its 50th edition this year and, as in 2024, will serve as the Wanda Diamond League Final. Finals in 16 disciplines will be held across Friday 4 and Saturday 5 September at the King Baudouin Stadium. The women’s 800m final will take place on Saturday evening.
Tickets
Tickets for the 50th edition of the Allianz Memorial Van Damme can be purchased via the official website. Around 70,000 spectators are expected across the two days.