BBC Sport reporterPublished2 hours agoEuropean champion Audrey Werro came tantalisingly close to downing the oldest outdoor world record in athletics, finishing a little more than four tenths of a second off Jarmila Kratochvilova's 800m mark of one minute 53.28 seconds, set 43 years ago.
Roared on by a 25,000-strong capacity crowd at the Zurich Diamond League, the Swiss hit the final 100m almost in stride with the infield pacing lights which had been set for a world record.
However Werro, straining hard against the clock, could not quite find the finishing pace she needed, clocking 1:53.70.
Still, the third-fastest time in history shaves another tenth of a second off the 22-year-old's personal best and only increases the sense that she will break the record sooner rather than later.
Werro has improved every year of her top-level career and now, having finished her studies and concentrating on the track, has shown ruthless consistency. She has four of the top-10 all-time 800m times, all clocked this summer.
For Britain's Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson, who withdrew from the meeting after her exertions in taking continental silver behind Werro in Birmingham, it only emphasised the challenge she faces in the event.
Not only does she have to contend with Werro's burgeoning form, but Femke Broeders-Bol, the world 400m hurdles champion who has switched up to two laps this season, gave another impressive showing in her debut campaign over 800m.
The Dutchwoman, who took out the pace initially, clocked a new national record of 1:54.71, beating Hodgkinson's training partner and Commonwealth 800m champion Georgia Hunter-Bell, who finished in 1:55.03, into third.
Broeders-Bol's long, languid stride and sprint speed have already made an impression in the event and she is gaining tactical knowhow fast as she acclimatises to the bump and hustle of middle distance.
"I was hoping to be in these sort of fights, but to be honest, I didn't expect it at all in the first season," she said afterwards.
"I thought I needed at least one or two seasons to get into the 1:54s, but here I am."
When Athing Mu-Nikolayev, Hodgkinson's American nemesis who beat her to gold at the Tokyo Olympics and Eugene 2022, slipped off the scene, the Briton had hoped to dominate the 800m.
With less than two years until she defends her Olympic crown in Los Angeles however, new rivals are looking ever more threatening.
Hodgkinson, like Werro and Broeders-Bol, has qualified for the Diamond League final in Brussels on 4-5 September. It could be an intriguing benchmark for the season's end.
While Werro fell short in her world record attempt, two new marks were set in an astonishng night of action.
To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.This video can not be played
Dos Santos breaks 400m hurdles world record in Zurich
First, Brazil's Alison dos Santos defied expectations to smash the 400m hurdles world record.
The 26-year-old has been in excellent form this season, undefeated in the event, but there was little to suggest that Karsten Warholm's 2021 mark of 45.94 seconds was in danger.
But, with Warholm a distant second, Tokyo 2025 silver medallist Dos Santos cantered off the final hurdle and pushed through to clock 45.80 seconds.
His previous personal best stood at 46.29 and was set four years ago.
Just 75 minutes later, another world record fell in front of the 25,000-strong capacity crowd
Masai Russell, the Olympic champion, capturing the 100m hurdles mark was less surprising, considering the American has finished within a tenth of a second of Tobi Amusan's 12.12-second landmark five times in the past two seasons.
The 26-year-old celebrated her 12.09 clocking with a finger to her lips as the crowd erupted. Just like Warholm, Amusan had a prime view of her record being broken, finishing second.
To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.This video can not be played
Russell breaks women's 100m hurdles world record
Amy Hunt, winner of four golds at the European Championships earlier this month, found things tougher against some of the world's finest 100m runners.
Left in the blocks, the Briton had to watch on as Olympic champion Julien Alfred inflicted Melissa Jefferson-Wooden's first defeat over the distance in two years, edging out the American in a 10.70-second photo finish.
David Rudisha's 800m world record of one minute 40.91 seconds, set en route to gold at London 2012, survived unscathed as his Kenyan compatriot Emmanuel Wanyonyi came home in one minute 41.76 seconds.
While Sweden's Armand 'Mondo' Duplantis, pushed on by competition from Greece's Emmanouil Karalis, failed in three shots at improving his own pole vault world record to 6.32m.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen, who has been booked in for a keenly-anticipated duel with Britain's Josh Kerr at the inaugural Ultimate Championships on 11-13 September, could only finish fifth in a 1500m race won by American Olympic champion Cole Hocker.
Dos Santos and Russell break world records as Werro dominates again - Zurich Diamond League recap
'The record will fall' - Werro takes aim at 43-year-old 800m mark
Why is the women's 800m record so tough to break?
