Europe’s finest race walkers will compete in the Czech spa town of Podebrady again for the 2025 European Race Walking Team Championships which takes place one month from today (18) on 18 May.
The 2025 European Race Walking Team Championships will be streamed live in its entirety on the European Athletics YouTube channel and will be accompanied by English-language commentary.
Individual and team medals will be up for grabs across the six events - 20km and 35km for seniors and 10km for U20s - in what is arguably the most important race walking fixture on the calendar in the build-up to the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo in September.
World record-holder Perez returns
The 2023 European Race Walking Team Championships was highlighted by Spain’s Maria Perez winning the 35km race walk title in a world record of 2:37:15, a mark which remains on the record books.
Perez, who went on to sweep the 20km race walk and 35km race walk titles at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, also led a Spanish individual clean sweep ahead of Raquel Gonzalez and Cristina Montesinos and this same triumvirate has been named on Spain’s 35km race walk team for this year’s event.
And despite the departure of 2023 winner Alvaro Martin who announced his surprise retirement shortly after joining forces with Perez to win Olympic gold in the mixed marathon relay in Paris, the Spaniards will also have strong chances in the men’s 35km race walk as well.
Their team includes reigning European 35km race walk champion Miguel Angel Lopez who won individual bronze behind Martin in Podebrady two years ago and was their second counter in their gold medal-winning team.
Spain and Italy dominated the last edition of the European Race Walking Team Championships, winning 11 of the 12 gold medals on offer. Spain came away with six gold medals - including four in the team races - with Italy winning five gold medals.
Fortunato and Stano a dual threat for Italy
And the Italians will arrive in Podebrady with medal chances across the programme, especially in the men’s 20km race walk and 35km race walk.
In the 10,000m race walk at the Italian Club Race Walking Championships in Prato on Sunday, 2020 Olympic champion Massimo Stano clocked the fastest ever time by a European with 37:33.03 to slash the previous European best of 37:53.09 set by Spain’s Francisco Fernandez in 2008.
Stano's teammate Francesco Fortunato, who won the 20km race walk title two years ago for his biggest career victory to date, was also comfortably under the previous mark in second with 37:34.90.
However, the two Italian race walkers will be merely teammates rather than adversaries in Podebrady next month.
Fortunato, who also won bronze in front of his home fans at the European Athletics Championships in Rome last year, has his sights set on defending his 20km race walk title whereas Stano is planning to contest the 35km race walk, the distance over which he was crowned world champion in Eugene in 2022.
Can Ntrismpioti strike again?
The only athlete to break up the Spanish and Italian hegemony in Podebrady two years ago was Greece’s Antigoni Ntrismpioti who triumphed in the 20km race walk having won the inaugural edition of the 35km race walk title two years prior in Podebrady 2021.
At 41, Ntrismpioti will be one of the oldest competitors at the European Race Walking Team Championships but the Greek veteran, who came to wider prominence with her double gold medal-winning exploits at the 2022 European Athletics Championships in Munich, is still capable of challenging her younger competitors.
Ntrismpioti has clocked 1:29:16 for the 20km race walk this season which is the third fastest time of her late blooming career and also one second faster than her winning time for individual gold in 2023.
Another athlete looking to return to the top of the podium after mixed fortunes in 2024 is Sweden’s Perseus Karlstrom, a medallist in the last four editions of the European Race Walking Team Championships including the gold medallist in 2019 and 2021.
After a plethora of silver and bronze medals, Karlstrom won an elusive and emotional gold medal in the 20km race walk at the European Athletics Championships in Rome before the after-effects of an untimely bout of coronavirus reduced him to a 21st-place finish at the 2024 Olympics.
But the Swede is back in form with a season’s best of 1:18:35 and is one place ahead of reigning champion Fortunato on the 2025 European list with the latter having clocked 1:18:49 this season.