Sawt Falasteen - Broeders-Bol backed by coach to challenge the very best over 800m

Broeders-Bol may only be 26 but she has packed a lot into her career thusfar, winning two world gold medals over the 400m hurdles.

It is a discipline in which she has shone on the elite Diamond League circuit, last year completing an incredible sixth campaign unbeaten.

Her exceptional finishing pace has also seen her claim multiple medals as the anchor leg in 4x400m relay teams, notably a gold in the mixed event in the Paris Olympics.

But the Dutch athlete opted to step away from the hurdles, which has been dominated on the Olympic scene by US rival and world record holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone.

Broeders-Bol, whose name change is due her marriage to Belgian pole vaulter Ben Broeders, ran her first 800m since 2017 in February, clocking a national record of 1min 59.07sec before withdrawing from the rest of the indoor season to nurse a foot injury.

Coach Meuwly is under no illusion of his charge's capability.

"I think she'll surprise a lot of people in this first month of competition," Meuwly said.

"There's a lot of excitement because it's been a long period without racing. We're looking forward to a new challenge."

He also hinted that the oldest world record in athletics -- the 1:53.28 for the outdoor 800m set by Jarmila Kratochvilova of the then-Czechoslovakia in 1983 -- could be under threat.

"I've always said that if Femke switched to the 800 metres, it was because I also felt that the 800-metre world record was more within her reach than the 400m hurdles record," Meuwly said.

"It's a record that dates back a very long time, from an era when we know there were quite a few doping issues, so there's a bit of a myth surrounding this 800m record.

"But when we started considering making the switch, I was absolutely convinced that it was possible for women to run 1:52, or even faster."

- On-form Werro awaits -

There is a packed field awaiting in Ostrava, notably in the form of Switzerland's Audrey Werro.

Werro is fresh off establishing herself as the world's all-time number three after timing a sensational 1:53.98 to beat Britain's Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson.

Given Broeders-Bol's impressive closing speed, Werro could well be pushed hard again towards a fast time.

Meuwly said Werro had been "improving very steadily over the past few years".

"She had a pacemaker, and then Hodgkinson acted as a luxury pacemaker for her," he said of her recent blazing run in the Stockholm Diamond League that saw her take two seconds of her personal best.

"It won't always play out like that, everything had to be perfectly in place, but physically I'm not surprised she's capable of doing it."

Comparing the profiles of Broeders-Bol, Werro and Hodgkinson, Meuwly said all three were capable of being extremely fast over the opening 600 metres given that they were not necessarily endurance athletes.

Hodgkinson, he added, was the one with "better qualities of aerobic endurance, and would be the winner of the three over 1,500m".

"Femke is really an ex-sprinter, 22.60sec over 200m and 49sec over 400m, both indoors. So an athlete who is more explosive and quick for the 800m.

"Audrey is a bit inbetween the two, but who has over the years managed to gain experience over 800m."

Other stand-out events at the Ostrava meet is American Olympic 100m champion Noah Lyles, also a four-time world 200m gold medallist, up against Australian teenager Gout Gout over the rarely-run 150m.

N.Awad--SF-PST