Spain's Perez sets women's half marathon race walk world record

Spain's Maria Perez has achieved another world record, this time in the women's half-marathon race walk, at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham. Perez clocked an impressive time of 1 hour 30 minutes and 6 seconds to claim the gold medal, establishing the inaugural world record for the event. Her performance comfortably beat the 1:30:30 standard set by World Athletics.

This victory marks Perez's first European gold in the race walk since winning the 20 km event in 2018. The half-marathon race walk has replaced the 20-km race in the competition. Italy's Alexandrina Mihai secured the silver medal, while Ukraine's Lyudmila Olyanovska took home the bronze.

Perez's dominance in race walking is well-established. She already holds the world record for the 35-km race walk, which she set in 2023, and boasts an impressive record of four world championship titles. Her latest achievement further solidifies her status as one of the sport's leading athletes.