Fiorini and Perez Shatter World Records in Birmingham Race Walking

Two world records fell in the same session at the 2026 European Athletics Championships in Birmingham, as Italy's Sofia Fiorini and Spain's Maria Perez each rewrote the record books in women's race walking. BBC Sport

Fiorini set a world record in the women's marathon race walk — a gruelling 42.2-kilometre event contested on the road under the strict technique rules that require one foot to remain in contact with the ground at all times. She broke the previous world mark by more than nine minutes, a margin almost unheard of at the elite level.

For Fiorini, the performance caps a season of relentless improvement. In April, she won individual silver at the World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships with a time of 3:25:42, a mark that stood as the European under-23 record and the second-fastest time ever recorded by a European. European Athletics She arrived in Birmingham as the European leader in the event. European Athletics

The scale of her jump is striking. As recently as January, her personal best in the marathon race walk stood at 3:27:19. European Athletics She then clocked 3:25:42 in Brasilia at the World Team Championships, and has now gone well beyond even that.

Fiorini turns 22 on 19 August, four days after the championship concludes. She is a two-time Italian national champion and a World Race Walking Cup silver medallist. World Athletics

Maria Perez, the experienced Spanish race walker, set her own world record in the half-marathon race walk at the same championships. BBC Sport Perez is no stranger to record-breaking: she set the women's 35 km race walk world record of 2:37:15 at the European Race Walking Team Championships in Podebrady, Czech Republic, on 21 May 2023, bettering the previous mark by 29 seconds. Reuters

What makes these performances stand out is the sheer breadth of the margins. Race walking world records are often separated by seconds, not minutes. Fiorini's nine-minute improvement defies the usual arithmetic of elite endurance sport, where progress is measured in increments. Perez, meanwhile, continues to push the boundaries of a discipline she has dominated for years.

For fans, Birmingham 2026 will be remembered as the championships where race walking seized the spotlight. Two athletes, two distances, two world records — and a sport that rarely commands headlines delivered a night that will take some beating.