Werro holds off Broeders-Bol by 0.06 in Brussels
Kazimierska and Balew took the other big distance wins at the Diamond League final.
Audrey Werro front-ran the women's 800 at the Brussels Diamond League final and held on for the title in 1:54.75, with Femke Broeders-Bol closing to 1:54.81. That is 0.06 between them, and CITIUS MAG notes it is the second time in the pair's last three races that the win came down to less than a tenth. Werro stays unbeaten outdoors.
Broeders-Bol was not exactly crushed. She ran her second sub-1:55 and told CITIUS MAG she was 99% happy and 1% frustrated to get that close.
Kazimierska's four second year
Klaudia Kazimierska took the lead with 200 to go in the 1500 and won in 3:54.05, a Polish record and a world lead, off a 59.25 last lap. Dorcus Ewoi was second in 3:54.72 and Jess Hull third in 3:54.73. Georgia Hunter Bell made a move in the last 400 and finished fourth in 3:56.40.
The Oregon alum started 2026 with a 3:57.95 best and a run of runner-up finishes. She told CITIUS MAG she was second in LA twice and second in Birmingham before this. She switched coaches from Shalane Flanagan to Jerry Schumacher about a month before Brussels, and says Schumacher told her he has never seen an athlete do the things she does in training. Nearly four seconds of improvement in a year means this is a new name at the front of the event, not a one-off.
Balew's last lap
Birhanu Balew of Bahrain won the 5000 in 12:45.70 with a 53.4 final lap. Jonathan Gault posted the breakdown, 39.2 for the first 300 of that lap including a 12.8 for 100 down the back straight. LetsRun calls it the fastest last lap ever in a race won in 12:45 or faster. Graham Blanks was sixth in a lifetime best of 12:47.98, one place ahead of Nico Young in 12:48.12.
One caveat on the kick. Per LetsRun, Balew is not running the World Ultimate Championships, so that finish stays a Brussels story.
In the steeplechase, 20-year-old Gemechu Godana beat Soufiane El Bakkali. LetsRun has the full day two recap.
The 800 argument carried into the next day. Cathal Dennehy wrote that after a debut season like this, plenty of people have Broeders-Bol winning gold at LA 2028, but that Werro is 22 and should still improve a lot once she stays healthy. Gault's answer was that he takes the 22-year-old who has already run 1:53 three times.
I’m like 99% happy, 1% frustrated when you get that close.
[Jerry Schumacher] was saying that he has never seen an athlete do things that I do in training.
My answer (and I suspect yours) is the 22-year-old who has already run 1:53 three times.
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