Slovenia's Klara Lukan made history at the 10K Villa de Laredo on Saturday (18) evening as she smashed the European record and became the first European in history to break the 30 minute-barrier on the roads.
Lukan took the victory in Laredo in 29:50 to smash Great Britain's Megan Keith's recently set record of 30:07 in Castellon in February. In fact, this was the fourth time the European 10km record has been broken this year with Jana Van Lent and Eilish McColgan clocking 30:10 and 30:08 respectively on back-to-back weekends in January.
Lukan's winning time was also significantly faster than Lonah Chemtai Salpeter's 30:05 clocking from Tilburg in 2019, a mark which wasn't ratified as a European record but still features on the European all-time list.
Lukan produced near identical 5km splits as she made history in Laredo. The 25-year-old was comfortably under European record pace through 5km in 14:54 and she barely wavered from this tempo in the second half, covering the last 5km in 14:56 as she sliced 17 seconds from the European record.
"When I saw the result, I cried with happiness. This is a historic feat, I am the first from Europe to run below the magic mark. I did what I had imagined and what I had planned with coach Tevž Korent, who believed in me. He had told me some time ago that I could run the European record, that I was ready for it, and that is what happened," said Lukan as quoted by STA.
German record for Klosterhalfen
Behind Lukan, there was a pleasing return to form for Konstanze Klosterhalfen. The German couldn't quite manage a hat-trick of victories in Laredo against an in-form Lukan but the 2022 European 5000m champion finished second in 30:37, breaking her previous national record of 30:46 set in winning this race last year.
Esther Pfeiffer completed an all-European podium in the women's race, finishing third in 30:45. Her time also surpassed the previous German record set by Klosterhalfen by one second.
European U23 cross country champion Maria Forero was the leading Spaniard in fourth in 31:17, just missing the national record of 31:11 set by Carla Gallardo in last year's race.
In the men's race won by Ethiopia's Biniam Mehary in 26:55 by exactly one minute from his teammate Hagos Eyob in 27:55, Great Britain's Rory Leonard ensured some European representation on the podium by finishing third in 27:57.
Miguel Angel Martinez finished fourth on his debut in 28:01, defeating strong domestic opposition for the mantle of leading Spaniard in the men's race. Carlos Mayo and Abdessamad Oukhelfen finished seventh (28:08) and 12th (28:27) respectively.
Full results here.
Updated European all-time 10km list
29:50 - Klara Lukan (SLO) 2026
30:05 - Lonah Chemtai Salpeter (ISR) 2019
30:07 - Megan Keith (GBR) 2026
30:08 - Eilish McColgan (GBR) 2026
30:08 - Nadia Battocletti (ITA) 2026
30:10 - Jana Van Lent (BEL) 2026
30:21 - Paula Radcliffe (GBR) 2003
30:29 - Diane Van Es (NED) 2023
30:32 - Karoline Bjerkeli Grøvdal (NOR) 2020
30:36 - Yasemin Can (TUR) 2025
30:37 - Konstanze Klosterhalfen (GER) 2026