Maria Perez will be targeting back-to-back titles in the 35km race walk at the 2025 European Race Walking Team Championships in Podebrady, Czechia on Sunday (18).
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The 2025 European Race Walking Team Championships will be streamed live in its entirety on the YouTube channel and will be accompanied by English-language commentary.
Perez made history two years ago by winning the title in a still-standing world record of 2:37:15 to become the first Spanish woman to set a world record in any event.
She also led a Spanish clean sweep with Raquel Gonzalez and Cristina Montesinos winning silver and bronze respectively to ensure the Spaniards would win the team title with the lowest score possible.
Perez, who went on to win double gold at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, won the title by a massive winning margin of 8:27 - almost two kilometres in terms of distance on the road - but the Spaniard might not enjoy quite the same ascendancy this year as she faces two fellow proven major champions in Podebrady.
Can Ntrismpioti strike again in Podebrady?
The first is Greece’s Antigoni Ntrismpioti* who has been one of the trailblazers in the event’s very short history.
Ntrismpioti won the inaugural 35km race walk at the 2021 edition of this championships before following suit at the 2022 European Athletics Championships, the first part of an unlikely double in the race walking events in Munich which propelled her to stardom at the age of 38.
Ntrismpioti will be looking for her third successive individual gold medal at the European Race Walking Team Championships. The Greek veteran also won the 20km race walk title two years ago, outpacing Italy’s Antonella Palmisano who is due to make her debut in the 35km race walk on Sunday morning.
Palmisano won the first of Italy’s 11 gold medals at the Roma 2024 European Athletics Championships with a commanding performance in the 20km race walk, signalling her return to excellent form after two years of persistent injury problems since winning gold in the same discipline at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
And also back in form is Palmisano’s teammate Eleonora Giorgi who is the second fastest entrant for the 35km race walk having clocked a European leading time of 2:41:54 in February to move to sixth on the European all-time list.
New champion to be crowned in the 20km race walk
There will be a different look to the 20km race walk podium with none of the three medallists from the 2023 European Race Walking Team Championships due to compete.
And the only returning medallist from last year’s European Athletics Championships is Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Olyanovska who caught Spain’s Laura Garcia-Caro - flag in hand and prematurely celebrating - on the line for the bronze medal in a moment which went viral on social media.
The Ukrainians will also arrive with medal prospects in the team race having won silver in this event as a collective in both 2021 and 2023. The team also features Mariia Sakharuk and Olena Sobchuk who have lifetime bests of 1:28:47 and 1:28:50 respectively.
But the fastest entrant based on current form is Spain’s Antia Chamosa who won the Spanish 20km race walk title in March in a lifetime best of 1:27:55 and looks set to challenge for her first ever major senior medal on Sunday.
Also watch out for a strong French contingent including national record-holder Clemence Berretta (1:28:44 PB) and Pauline Stey (1:29:07 PB) and Camille Moutard (1:28:55 PB), the gold and bronze medallists respectively at the 2023 European Athletics U23 Championships.
Other possible medal contenders include Italy’s Alexandrina Mihai - the silver medallist between the two Frenchwomen at those championships - who has also improved to 1:28:57 this year and Poland’s 2022 double world silver medallist Katarzyna Zdzieblo.
In the U20 women's race, Serbia's Mina Stankovic has the fastest lifetime best with 44:16. The entry-list also features reigning European U18 5000m race walk champion Serena di Fabio from Italy and Spain's reigning European U20 10,000m race walk champion Sofia Santacreu from Spain.
(*Note: since publishing this preview, Antigoni Ntrismpioti has withdrawn from the 2025 European Race Walking Team Championships due to injury)