At the European Race Walking Team Championships on Sunday, Maria Perez destroyed the world mark.
The record for the women’s 35km race walk was set by Kimberly Garcia of Peru in March. The Spaniard beat her record by a huge 29 seconds.
Perez finished the race in Podebrady, Czech Republic, in two hours, 37 minutes, and 15 seconds, which was more than eight minutes faster than Raquel Gonzales, another runner from her home country. Cristina Montesinos came in third, giving Spain a clean win.
European Athletics says that the last time a Spaniard broke a world record in track and field was in 2008, when Francisco Fernandez won the 10,000m race walk.
Perez told European Athletics, “It feels good to finish the race, and the time is a big reward for that.”
“Before I started, I didn’t think about a time or a goal. I just wanted to finish as well as I could.”
The World Athletics ratification process will be used to validate Perez’s time, as is customary when records are broken.
