The idea that Audrey shouldn't run her race is idiotic.
Any runner is certainly entitled to run their race in whatever way - within the rules - they feel gives them the best shot at winning.
Going out of your way to hinder others in ways that don't help your own chances is at least questionable. But I doubt Werro did so deliberately.
Paradoxically this might be a case where the old indoor break line would have produced a faster result, as Hodgkinson would only have had to run too fast for about 100m instead of almost 200m.
We saw Femke and Keely announce they would run. We tried to film that Lieven meet in France but they are so full we couldn't get a writer, influencer, video, or photography permission. I wish we had someone there.
Keely only ran a very fast first 200 because she had to get in front of Werro. Not sure what Werro was thinking. She knew that Keely was in much better shape than her and that Keely was going for the world record. Werro knew she couldn't stay with Keely but she just felt like messing with Keely. That was uncalled for.
I think this is ridiculous. Werro had already run 1:57.27 and won all 3 of her races this year. Werro won the DL final in 1:55.91 and was 6th at Worlds. Werro has every right to compete with Hodgkinson even if that means trying to “spoil the party” by getting the pole position and disrupting the script.
Of course, if they wanted Keely to run the best possible time, they shouldn't have had Werro in the race. But. Of course, Audrey had every right to " go for it' and, of course, had she improved her personal best by a similar amount as Keely, she too could have beaten the old record.