Pérez Secures Half Marathon Record
María Pérez established a new world record in the women’s half marathon race walk during the European Championships in Birmingham. She finished the race in 1:30:06, securing a European gold medal. This performance surpassed the previously set standard of 1:30:30 for the inaugural women’s half marathon world record by 24 seconds.
From the start, Pérez maintained a strong pace, covering the initial kilometre in 4:36. She raced alongside Antonella Palmisano of Italy for a portion of the race, with both athletes breaking away from the pack by the 8km mark. Pérez then made a decisive move around 10km, building a significant lead. By 14km, she was 23 seconds ahead of Palmisano, and her advantage grew to over a minute by 18km.
She passed the 20km mark in 1:25:30, matching her own Spanish record for that distance. Alexandrina Mihai of Italy earned the silver medal with a time of 1:31:04, while Lyudmyla Olyanovska of Ukraine took bronze in 1:31:07. Pérez, who also holds the world record for the 35km race walk, added this European title to her 20km crown won in Berlin in 2018.
Fiorini Breaks Marathon Race Walk Record
Less than two hours after Pérez’s achievement, Sofia Fiorini, a 21-year-old Italian athlete, delivered another record-breaking performance in the women’s marathon race walk. She crossed the finish line in 3:15:11, setting a new world record for the distance. This time was 1 minute and 49 seconds faster than the 3:17:00 performance standard established for the inaugural women’s marathon world record.
Fiorini was in a close contest with Katarzyna Zdziebło of Poland for much of the race, with both athletes side by side with 14km remaining. Fiorini made her decisive move with just over 9km to go, rapidly increasing her lead over her competitor. She ultimately won by more than four-and-a-half minutes.
Zdziebło secured the silver medal with a Polish record time of 3:19:50, and Raquel González of Spain earned the bronze in 3:20:49. Fiorini’s performance also improved her own European U23 record and her previous best time of 3:25:42 by 10 minutes and 31 seconds. Her previous best was set when she won silver at the World Race Walking Team Championships in Brasília in April.
Men’s Half Marathon Gold for McGrath
In the men’s half marathon race walk, Paul McGrath of Spain claimed the inaugural European title. He achieved a personal best time of 1:23:23, nearly two minutes faster than his previous best. The race was a tactical battle, with 12 men closely grouped after 5km. Francesco Fortunato of Italy initially set the pace.
The race began to spread out around 11km, when McGrath and Leo Köpp of Germany moved ahead, creating an 11-second gap over the chasing group. However, Köpp was disqualified after receiving a fourth warning, which changed the dynamic of the race. McGrath capitalized on this, building a 21-second lead over Fortunato by 19km and maintaining his advantage to the finish line.
Fortunato, who holds the European record of 1:23:00, took home the silver medal with a time of 1:23:36. Andrea Cosi of Italy secured the bronze medal, finishing in a personal best of 1:23:49. Mukola Rushchak of Ukraine finished fourth with a national record of 1:24:12. The half marathon and marathon race walks became official distances from 1 January 2026.
Source: worldathletics.org
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