Martin Madeline-Degy and Camille Moutard became the inaugural French Marathon Race Walking Champions at the landmark event in Salaise-sur-Sanne on Sunday (15).
The championships were introduced as the new distance formats of marathon and half marathon come into force for the Birmingham 2026 European Athletics Championships.
And Madeline-Degy and Moutard staked their claims for selection for Birmingham 2026 with dominant victories at the new distance of 42.195km.
Madeline-Degy, who was 12th over 20km at the Espoo 2023 European Athletics U23 Championships cruised to the men’s title in 3:05.34, nearly five minutes clear of second placed Mattéo Duc (3:10:12).
In the women’s race, Moutard’s triumph was equally routine in 3:33:38, more than 11 minutes clear of Marine Rottier (3:44:42). It was a result that placed Moutard second on this year’s European lists behind the Poland’s Katarzyna Zdziebło (3:24:19) in what is still the embryonic stage of the event’s development.
