Fiorini Sets Marathon Walk World Record at 3:15:11

On a record-laden evening in Birmingham, Sofia Fiorini of Italy claimed the marathon race walk world record at the European Athletics Championships. The 21-year-old stopped the clock at 3:15:11, beating the new official standard by a clear margin.

A duel decided with nine kilometres to go

For much of the contest Fiorini was locked together with Poland’s Katarzyna Zdziebło. The Italian broke away with just over 9km left. She then built her lead steadily through the closing stages.

Ten-minute leap into the record books

Fiorini finished more than four-and-a-half minutes ahead of Zdziebło, who took silver in a Polish record of 3:19:50. Spain’s Raquel González earned bronze in 3:20:49. The performance marked an improvement of ten minutes and 31 seconds from the 3:25:42 Fiorini recorded in Brasília four months earlier.

The marathon race walk became an official distance on 1 January 2026. A standard of 3:17:00 was required for the first world record. Fiorini surpassed it by 1:49 to become one of the discipline’s inaugural official record-holders.

Her achievement anchored a historic day for the sport. Spain’s María Pérez also set a world record in the half marathon race walk during the same session.

The young Italian moved from promising silver medallist to world record-holder in a single, unbroken stride.