At the European Championships in Birmingham on August 15, 2026, Spain's Maria Perez and Italy's Sofia Fiorini simultaneously made history: Perez set a world record in the race walking half-marathon, while Fiorini did the same in the marathon distance. Both secured victories with times that immediately became benchmark standards for the newly official distances.
Perez, a four-time world champion and the 35km record holder, crossed the finish line in 1:30:06, surpassing the World Athletics standard by 24 seconds. She led from the opening meters, broke away at the 10-kilometer mark, and held an advantage of over a minute by the 18th kilometer. This marks her second European gold, following her 20km victory in Berlin in 2018.
Fiorini, the 21-year-old Italian, claimed victory in the race walk marathon with a time of 3:15:11, improving her personal best by over 10 minutes. She competed alongside Poland's Katarzyna Zdzieblo for the first 9 kilometers, then accelerated and left her competitors far behind, finishing more than four and a half minutes ahead of the silver medalist.
The new distances — the half-marathon and marathon — only became official as of January 2026. Previously, race walkers primarily competed over 20 and 50 kilometers. This shift to longer, more spectator-friendly formats alters the very nature of the discipline: now, not only technique and judging scrutiny are crucial, but also the ability to manage one's energy over a distance akin to a classic marathon.
Consider running: while a sprinter requires explosive power for 100 meters, a marathon runner needs a strategy akin to a chess player planning many moves ahead. Perez demonstrated precisely this maturity—she didn't merely walk fast but controlled her pace and gradually distanced her rivals, like a seasoned tactician.
For Fiorini, conversely, this represents a moment of youthful breakthrough. Her time was 10 minutes faster than her silver medal performance at the World Team Championships in April—a striking illustration of how new conditions create opportunities for athletes who previously didn't always excel at shorter or longer distances.
These records are more than just numbers in a scoresheet. They demonstrate that race walking, a discipline often overshadowed by other athletics events, is getting a second wind: new distances are bringing it closer to a wider audience and enabling both veteran and young stars to simultaneously rewrite the rules of the game.
