There were two European best performances on Sunday (8) from Anita Chamosa and Riccardo Orsoni, who took the Spanish women’s and Italian men’s inaugural half marathon titles respectively.
Chamosa, who was 7th in the women’s 20km at the Tokyo 2025 World Athletics Championships cruised to a European all-time best of 1:34:44 at the Spanish Half Marathon Race Walking Championships in Cieza.
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It should be noted that the new discipline in still in its infancy, but with both the half marathon and marathon distances making their major event debut at the Birmingham 2026 European Athletics Championships on 15 August, both events are set to rapidly mature this summer.
Behind Chamosa, there was a fine performance from 19-year-old Aldara Meilan who just edged out twice European U20 champion Sofia Santacreu for silver with both athletes timed at 1:34:44.
In the men’s race, twice European medallist Diego Garcia-Carrera won a high-class race in 1:26:07, ahead of Alvaro Lopez (1:26:21), 2015 world champion and twice European gold medallist Miguel Angel Lopez (1:26:37) and world 20k bronze medallist Paul McGrath (1:27:48).
Orsoni sets European best in Italy
In Alessandria, Riccardo Orsoni took the men’s title at the Italian Half Marathon race walking championships in a European all-time best of 1:24:30 ahead of Gianluca Picchiottino (1:25:27). Sofia Fiorini (1:34:20) took women’s title.
Meanwhile in Lens, 2023 European U23 champion Pauline Stey won the women's title at the French Half Marathon Race Walking Championships in 1:33:54. Killian Lebreton took the men's title in 1:29:01.