Italy takes two silvers and bronze in race walk half marathon at European Athletics Championships

Men's race: first Italian double podium

The men's race walk half marathon (21.097 km), making its debut at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham, produced a first for Italian race walking. Francesco Fortunato and Andrea Cosi became the first two Italian walkers to share a European Championship podium in the same event, a milestone never reached even when the 20 km and 50 km distances were on the programme. The half marathon distance itself was new to the continental championship format, adding a layer of novelty to the Italian achievement.

Spain's Paul McGrath claimed the continental title in 1h23'23", a personal best. Fortunato, the reigning world champion of the distance from April's competition in Brasilia, followed 13 seconds later to take silver in 1h23'36". Cosi secured bronze in 1h23'49" according to three of the four sources, though the Open outlet reported his time as 1h23'44". Fortunato had previously earned bronze in the 20 km event at the 2024 European Championships in Rome, adding consistency across distances and championship cycles. The gap between McGrath and Fortunato, just 13 seconds over 21 kilometres, reflected the competitive density at the front of the race.

Women's race: Mihai's career breakthrough

In the women's event, Alexandrina Mihai delivered the first senior championship medal of her career with silver in 1h31'04", a new personal best. The Fiamme Oro athlete, a former continental U23 champion over 10,000 metres, prevailed in a sprint finish against Ukraine's Lyudmila Olyanovska, who took bronze in 1h31'07". Mihai overcame two sanctions during the race to edge the Ukrainian in the closing metres, securing Italy's second silver of the day. The three-second gap between Mihai and Olyanovska at the line reflected the tightness of the contest for the remaining podium places.

Spain's Maria Perez dominated the women's race, winning gold in 1h30'06", the world's best performance of the year, and was already celebrating with the roadside crowd in the final metres. At the finish line, Perez shared an embrace with her friend Antonella Palmisano, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion and European gold medallist from Rome 2024, who finished fifth in 1h32'10". Nicole Colombi, the third Italian entrant, placed eleventh, 5 minutes 30 seconds behind the winner after a pit stop at the 16th kilometre following three warnings.

Italian race walking depth on display

Italy's race walking programme emerged from the half marathon events with three medals: two silver and one bronze. The AGI outlet reported the broader Italian race walking campaign at these championships as yielding four medals overall, though the fourth medal came from another race walking event not detailed in these reports. The half marathon distance, new to the European Championship format, rewarded the Italian squad's established strength in the discipline. Fortunato's world title from Brasilia in April and Mihai's U23 pedigree both translated to senior championship podiums on the same day in Birmingham, while Palmisano's fifth-place finish added further depth to the women's result despite falling short of a medal.