Audrey Werro's thrilling European 800m victory over Keely Hodgkinson sets up a lively track rivalry that should thrive for seasons to come, with the added goal of breaking an elusive world record.
Before Werro outgunned Hodgkinson for continental gold in Birmingham in a championship record of 1min 54.81sec on Friday, the pair had last met at the Stockholm Diamond League in June.
The Swiss athlete had then also outpaced Hodgkinson, timing 1:53.98 for the victory to become the first woman to dip under 1:54 since 1983.
That was the year that Jarmila Kratochvilova of then-Czechoslovakia ran the two-lap race in 1:53.28.
It remains the oldest world record in track and field, albeit one that is highly contested having come during a period when systemic doping of athletes was prevalent. Kratochvilova, however, never failed a doping test.
Werro is just 22 and Hodgkinson 24, meaning the pair — injuries and form notwithstanding — could realistically be looking at a decade of rivalry ahead of them.
Throw 26-year-old Femke Broeders-Bol, the twice world 400m hurdles champion who has transitioned to the 800m and remarkably won bronze in Birmingham, into the mix and it makes for a heady concoction.
"We are both young, so we will have a great rivalry for years to come," said Olympic champion Hodgkinson of herself and Werro.
"We can keep challenging each other. And Femke is not much older and still learning the 800m, so it is going to be a competitive distance for years to come."
Hodkinson added: "There have been so many rivalries over the last couple of years. I have only been in this game for five years, hopefully I've got another 10 in me.
"There will always be competitors coming along and you don't know when someone is going to have a breakthrough."
Werro, who has only been a full-time professional athlete for one year, was in no doubt about what lay ahead for her.
"I hope to be faster and faster next year," she insisted.
Werro was clipped in her semi-final on Thursday and only made the final on a successful appeal, not ideal for championship racing.
"I'm glad I had a second chance and I just took it," she said.
