European Athletics Championships: Sofia Fiorini sets a world record and wins gold in the women’s race walk marathon
The 22-year-old from Tuscany set a new world record in 3h15:11, even managing to overtake almost all her rivals in the final few kilometres
Sofia Fiorini has won gold in the women’s race walk at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham. The 22-year-old from Tuscany set a new world record of 3h15:11, even managing to overtake almost all her rivals in the final few kilometres.
The Italian athlete crosses the finish line with a smile on her face, proving herself the master of the race. At the 30-kilometre mark, she decided to step up the pace and opened up a huge gap over her rivals, with Poland’s Katarzyna Zdzieblo taking silver more than four and a half minutes behind (3h19:50), Spain’s Raquel Gonzalez, who took bronze more than five minutes behind (3h20:49) and was lapped on the one-kilometre circuit through the city centre. The young Tuscan athlete surpassed the ‘target performance’ of 3h17:00 required by World Athletics to recognise the first official world record in the race walking marathon.
