ATHLETICS: Switzerland's Werro believes women's 800m record is within reach

Audrey Werro believes that the women's 800 metres record that has stood for almost 43 years is within reach and could be broken if she and Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson can push each other to their limits.

Werro crossed the finish line in one minute and 53.80 seconds to win the women's 800m at the Paris Diamond League on Sunday, with Hodgkinson absent from the field.

Her effort bettered her previous best of 1:53.98 set earlier this month in Stockholm and made her the first woman to go under 1:54 on two separate occasions.

The 22-year-old and Hodgkinson both have their sights set on breaking the world record of 1:53.28 set by Czech Jarmila Kratochvilova in 1983 - the longest-standing track record.

"I'm really happy with my performance today. It was really hard to run at the pace of the world record but I was pleased with my time," Werro said.

"I think I was a little bit late at the 600m mark, so I tried to catch up with the lights. We cannot have such a delay in the race so next time I want to stay more with the lights.

"It's way easier when I'm in the race with athletes who are as quick as me like Keely Hodgkinson for example. I think the world record will go when I am in a race with another quick athlete."

-Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Thomas Derpinghaus/Reuters