For the first time in the event’s history, the competition will be held in South America – and in the Southern Hemisphere – marking a significant moment for the discipline and for the sport more broadly. The half marathon race walk are the last event at the start at 11:05 (men event) and 12:50 (women event).
Weather forecast today in Brasilia: intermittent clouds/partly/mostly sunny from 11 AM; temperature increasing from 26° C to 28° C; humidity decreasing from 65% to 55%; wind from East around 17 km/h with gusts max 35 km/h. The course is a 1 km loop for both half marathons.
Race Walk Half Marathon Men
Francesco Fortunato produced a decisive late surge to win the men’s half marathon at the Caixa World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships Brasilia 26 on Sunday (12), clocking 1:27:25 in one of the most competitive and unpredictable races of the weekend. The race was anticipated to be one of the highlights of the programme and it more than delivered. A large lead pack remained intact deep into the latter stages with the lead changing hands repeatedly throughout before Fortunato made his move with less than a kilometre to go.
Fortunato’s victory carries added historical significance. The last Italian man to win at the World Race Walking Team Championships was Abdon Pamich, who won the very first race – the 50km – at the inaugural edition back in 1961. More than six decades on (65 years), Fortunato becomes just the second Italian man to win as the championships usher in a new era with revised standard distances.
The early stages set the tone for what would become a fiercely contested race. Brazil’s home favourite Caio Bonfim – the world 20km champion – led a sizeable pack through 5km in 21:13, with two-time world champion and world record-holder Toshikazu Yamanishi among those tracking closely. By 10km, reached in 42:20, more than 20 athletes were still in contention at the front. That number had reduced only slightly to 17 by 12km (50:33), with Bonfim continuing to dictate the pace.
The tempo began to lift as the race progressed, with splits of 58:48 at 14km, 1:02:55 at 15km and 1:07:03 at 16km, by which point the lead group had thinned to 10. Among those still in contention were Japan’s Yamanishi and Tomohiro Noda, Spain’s Diego García Carrera and Japan’s Kento Yoshikawa, while Australia’s Declan Tingay began to lose contact.
A decisive phase unfolded over the next few kilometres. At 17km (1:11:14), Fortunato moved to the front and increased the pace, stretching the field. By 18km (1:15:21), the lead pack had reduced to seven, with Ethiopia’s Misgana Wakuma positioning himself between Bonfim and Yamanishi.
The race broke apart definitively at 19km (1:19:23), when Bonfim, Wakuma and Fortunato surged clear to form a lead trio. Bonfim continued to lead through 20km in 1:23:21, but the decisive move came shortly after.
With the clock approaching 1:25, Fortunato unleashed a powerful burst, immediately opening a gap on his two remaining rivals. The European bronze medallist covered the final kilometre in 3:42 – the fastest of the race – and crossed the line a clear winner in 1:27:25. Wakuma held on strongly to secure second place in 1:27:33, the highest finish ever by an African athlete at these championships, while Bonfim completed the podium in 1:27:36 to the delight of the home crowd.
Germany’s Leo Kopp finished strongly to take fourth in 1:27:50, with Yoshikawa the leading Japanese finisher in fifth. Yamanishi and Noda placed seventh and eighth respectively, ensuring Japan regained the team title they last won in 2018. Spain, led by García Carrera, claimed team silver, while China returned to the podium with bronze after missing out in 2024.
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics
Race Walk Half Marathon Women
Peru’s Kimberly García produced a decisive mid-race break to take the women’s half marathon title at the Caixa World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships Brasilia 26, winning in 1:35:00 after a prolonged head-to-head battle with Mexico’s Alejandra Ortega. In what proved to be one of the most compelling contests of the weekend – both individually and in the team standings – García and Ortega were locked together for much of the race before the Peruvian pulled clear just before 15km and maintained her advantage to the finish. García, the double world champion in 2022, adds this title to her victory over 20km at the 2024 edition as the championships transition to the new standard race-walking distanes.
The early stages quickly developed into a two-athlete contest. By 4km (17:50), García and Ortega had forged a gap on Peru’s Evelyn
Inga, and by 5km (22:16) their advantage had extended to 13 seconds. Despite receiving a second red card at 6km, Ortega held firm alongside García as the pair steadily increased their lead. The lead duo’s advantage grew to 43 seconds at 8km while the chase group, led by Inga, Italy’s Nicole Colombi and Ukraine’s Lyudmila Olyanovska, began to fragment behind them.
By 10km (44:35), Colombi had moved into third on her own, with Australia’s Elizabeth McMillen advancing into fourth, but the leading duo remained almost 50 seconds clear. García and Ortega continued to dictate the pace through 14km (1:02:39), their margin stretching beyond one minute. Further back, the race for the minor medals began to take shape. Spain’s Aldara Meilán and Sofía Santacreu – the U20 silver and bronze medallists from 2024 – started to close on the leaders.
The decisive moment came shortly before 15km, when García injected a surge that Ortega could not match and she continued to pull ahead over the following kilometres. At 16km (1:11:34), Ortega trailed by 31 seconds, while Santacreu had moved into third, just four seconds ahead of Meilán, with Inga and Colombi slipping to fifth and sixth. At that stage, Spain had moved into pole position in the team standings.
García’s lead reached its maximum at 18km (1:20:44), where she was 42 seconds clear, but the closing stages saw the dynamics shift behind her. Ortega remained secure in second, while Meilán and Santacreu produced the fastest closing kilometres of the leading group to reel in the gap ahead. While the Spanish duo continued to close on Ortega, Ukraine were also packing well and regained the lead in the team standings with just two kilometres to go.
García, meanwhile, maintained control through to the finish, crossing the line in 1:35:00. Ortega held on for silver in 1:35:21, by far her best ever performance on the global stage, while Meilán secured bronze in 1:35:58 after moving clear of Santacreu, who finished fourth in 1:36:02. Further back, Ukraine’s Hanna Shevchuk placed seventh in 1:37:39, and with three athletes finishing inside the top 10, Ukraine claimed the team title with 25 points. Spain took silver with 28, while Australia secured bronze with 30. With just five points separating the top three nations, it was the closest team competition of the weekend.
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics
Official results: see below enclosed files
Photo album
Photo album from Fidal: https://www.fidal.it/gallery_one.php?gid=3427