Maria Perez and Sofia Fiorini set world records in Birmingham

At the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham, Maria Perez and Sofia Fiorini set historic world records in race walking.

Spanish athlete Maria Perez secured the gold medal in the women’s race walking half marathon with a time of 1:30:06. This performance established her as the first official world record holder for the distance, surpassing the World Athletics qualification standard of 1:30:30 by 24 seconds. Perez led the race from the start, eventually finishing ahead of Italy’s Alexandrina Mihai and Ukraine’s Liudmyla Olianovska.

In the marathon race walking event, Italy’s Sofia Fiorini delivered a standout performance, finishing in 3:15:11. This time improved the previous record by more than 10 minutes. Fiorini pulled away from the competition approximately 10 kilometers before the finish line. Poland’s Katarzyna Zdzibło took second place, followed by Spain’s Raquel Gonzalez in third.

These disciplines, the half marathon and the marathon, were officially recognized by World Athletics as championship distances starting January 1.