Massimo Stano shattered the men’s 35km race walk world record at the 2025 European Race Walking Team Championships in Podebrady, clocking 2:20:43—an astonishing 57 seconds faster than the previous mark.
Stano, Italy’s 2021 Olympic and 2022 world champion, didn’t set out to break the record. His plan was simple: finish the last 20 kilometers as fast as possible. That strategy paid off. He closed that stretch in a blazing 1:19:06, consistently covering each one-kilometer loop in under four minutes.
The race began with Poland’s Maher Ben Hlima setting a fierce early pace, leading by nearly a minute at the 15km mark. But by the 24th kilometer, Stano reeled him in and took control. At that point, a record still seemed unlikely, but his steady pace shifted the momentum. His 30km split of 2:00:57—two seconds quicker than Evan Dunfee’s en route to his March world record—signaled what was coming.
From there, it became a solo assault on the clock. Stano not only broke Dunfee’s recent mark of 2:21:40 but pushed the boundaries of the event itself, bringing the once-unthinkable sub-2:20 finish into sight.
This marks the second consecutive year the men’s 35km race walk world record has fallen, following Masatora Kawano’s 2:21:47 in October and Dunfee’s March breakthrough. But Stano’s performance was on another level, blending tactical patience with raw endurance and speed.
With his new record of 2:20:43, Stano didn’t just win a race—he redefined the limits of the event.
