Audrey Werro celebrates as she crosses the line ahead of Keely Hodgkinson in Stockholm - Jonathan Nackstrand/Getty Images

Keely Hodgkinson ran a personal best – and the sixth-fastest time in history – but still suffered a shock defeat in her first outdoor 800 metres race of the year.

If the British Olympic champion did not know it already, Switzerland’s Audrey Werro demonstrated that the race to break the oldest world record in athletics has another serious contender.

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In a brilliant contest in the Stockholm Diamond League, Werro became the first woman to go under 1min 54sec since Jarmila Kratochvilova’s world record 1-53.28 in 1983 as she claimed Hodgkinson’s scalp.

Hodgkinson ran 1-54.33, lowering her own national record, but Werro’s 1-53.98 sets up the prospect of a huge rivalry this summer as both try to run down that world record and win at the European Championships in Birmingham in August.

Hogkinson’s camp will take comfort from their runner’s performance at such an early stage of the summer, particularly as it followed a specific block of training aimed at lowering her 400m pace rather than peaking at 800m, but Werro’s emergence threatens to shift the goalposts.

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Aged 22, the Swiss athlete is two years younger than Hodgkinson, whom she finished well behind when they last raced at the World Indoor Championships in March, but is clearly on a very steep upward curve.

Werro followed the pacemaker through the first lap with Hodgkinson in third before the Briton moved past both runners with 300 metres remaining. The expectation was for Hodgkinson to then open up a lead but Werro followed, regrouped, and then moved past the Briton in the final straight.

Werro savours her victory over Hodgkinson in Sweden - Christine Olsson/Shutterstock

Hodgkinson, who won 800m gold at the Paris Olympics in 2024 to add to her silver from the previous Games in Tokyo, admitted that “Audrey was just better today” but promised that defeat would provide motivation and seemed nonplussed by her new British record.

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“It’s all right,” she said of her new personal best. “I always intend for it to be quick. It will motivate me more in training to come back and make sure that doesn’t happen again.

“Honestly, massive respect to her, it was a great race. It makes me excited. I can build on this, it is still very early [in the summer]. I made the right decisions at the right time. Audrey was just better.”

There had earlier been an impressive personal best for the sprinter Amy Hunt, who dipped under 11 seconds over 100m for the first time in finishing second in 10.97 behind world champion Melissa Jefferson-Wooden. Hunt, the world 200m silver medallist, is only the fourth British woman to go under 11 seconds and is now behind only Dina Asher-Smith (10.83sec) and Daryll Neita (10.90sec) on the British all-time list.

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There was also a major surprise in the pole vault, with world record holder Mondo Duplantis, competing in front of a home crowd in Sweden, suffering his first defeat for three years. He finished second behind Australia’s Kurtis Marschall.