Spanish Maria Perez (pictured) and Italian Sofia Fiorini wrote their names in the history of European athletics after setting world records in the half marathon and marathon race walking, respectively, at the championships in Birmingham, BTA reports. Perez won the title in the 21.0975 kilometer distance with a time of 1:30:06 hours, which is significantly below the qualification standard of 1:30:30 set by the World Athletics. Thus, the Spaniard reached her first European gold since 2018.
The four-time world champion in the 35 km race fought for the victory over the Italian Alexandrina Mihai, while the third place went to the Ukrainian Lyudmila Olyanovska.
Even more impressive was the performance of Sofia Fiorini in the marathon. The Italian covered the distance in 3:15:11 hours, improving her previous best by more than 10 minutes.
Fiorini controlled the race in its final part and about 10 kilometers before the finish broke away from her competitors. Poland's Katarzyna Zdzieblo finished second, about four and a half minutes behind the winner, while Spain's Raquel Gonzalez won the bronze medal.
The half marathon and marathon disciplines in race walking have been officially recognized by the World Athletics Association since January 1, with the shorter distance of 21.0975 km replacing the previous 20 km race. The standard for the half marathon is 1:30:30, while for the marathon it is 3:17:00.
For Fiorini, this is a big jump from her performance at the World Team Championships in Brazil in April. Then the Italian finished second with a time of 3:25:42, but in Birmingham she improved her result by more than 10 minutes.