Spain sweeps half-marathon race walk golds as Stano takes marathon title at European Championships

· Sports ESPITAGBR

Spain's María Pérez and Paul McGrath won the inaugural European half-marathon race walk titles in Birmingham on Friday, with Pérez setting a world record of 1 hour 30 minutes 6 seconds to beat Italy's Alexandrina Mihai and Ukraine's Lyudmila Olyanovska. McGrath finished in 1:23:23, ahead of Italians Francesco Fortunato and Andrea Cosi.

In the marathon race walk, Italy's Massimo Stano claimed gold in 2:56:49, a European record and the second-fastest time in history. Spain's Miguel Ángel López took silver, eight seconds back, with France's Aurèlien Quinion third.

Birmingham is the first continental championship to feature the new distances, after World Athletics replaced the 20km and 35km events with the half-marathon and marathon in December 2024. The 1km urban circuit features narrow cobbled streets with 160 athletes competing simultaneously.

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