Maria Perez receives her trophy at the World Athletics Awards (© World Athletics 
Chiara Montesano)
Spanish race walker Maria Perez completed another golden double at the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25, repeating the 20km and 35km race walk victories she achieved at the World Championships in Budapest two years ago.
The now four-time world gold medallist, who remained undefeated in 2025, reflects on her successful season and looks ahead to the future.
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On winning the out of stadium athlete of the year award at the World Athletics Awards 2025:
“A huge thank you to World Athletics and everyone who voted for this award. Winning four consecutive gold medals at the World Championships is no easy feat, so I also want to thank my team here today, especially my coach, because without them, none of this would be possible.
“It's not just my award, but it belongs to the entire Spanish athletics community, and especially to race walking, which deserved recognition.”
Maria Perez at the World Athletics Awards 2025 (© World Athletics 
Chiara Montesano)
On her development since 2021, when she finished fourth at the Tokyo Olympics:
“One thing that has helped me a lot, and that you all saw in Tokyo (World Championships), is that I have my idol, my rival and my friend (Italy’s world 35km race walk silver medallist Antonella Palmisano, who won Olympic 20km race walk gold in Tokyo in 2021). One of the best things has been to keep going, working behind the scenes, so that you all can see the results – then to be able to share them with an idol, a rival, and now a friend like Antonella Palmisano. It's fundamental that one of the values of sport is camaraderie, and you don't have to be from the same country to have that camaraderie, right?
“The Maria in 2021, when she was fourth (in the Olympic 20km race walk), is the same, the only thing is that she has matured athletically. Of course, I envision a podium without me (in future) – not because it is something that I wish for but because that would mean that race walk is progressing and the level is getting higher and higher.”
On what she will cherish the most from the 2025 season:
“It's difficult to choose. Obviously, both the 20km and the 35km will remain very close to my heart. The 35km was very hard for me. In the 35km, I had to think and save some of my legs for the upcoming event, but what I will remember is being able to share that moment with a great rival, and great friend at the same time, Antonella Palmisano.”
On the changes to race walking distances in senior World Athletics Series events from 2026 (20km to half marathon and 35km to marathon):
“The half marathon and marathon distances are what us race walkers would like to have because the marathon is closer to the 50km and a half marathon is closer to the 20km, so they are for different types of athletes.
“My aim when I doubled in both Tokyo and Budapest was to prove that a 20km athlete can actually contest a 35km, it's not that complicated to do both distances, because the speed and the tempo is very similar. I want race walking and the marathon to have the respect that they deserve as the oldest events in the athletics calendar.
“When I double, it's not because I want to win two medals. It's because I want to prove to the world that it doesn't make sense to have the 20km and the 35km and I want to give my race walking competitors a chance to have a distance that is fit for them.”
On the distance she feels she might be most competitive at:
“I could be competitive in both, because they have done studies that have shown that physically, I can do both, and even potentially be a little bit more successful in the marathon. However, I am going to focus on the half marathon, because it is the Olympic event – I want to be competitive in LA (in 2028) and it is going to be my last Olympic cycle because after LA I would like to become a mother.”
On whether she is targeting the World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships Brasilia 26:
“I'm not sure yet. I've only just started training again, so we'll see. If I'm ready, I'll go, if I'm not ready, I won’t. But I really want to thank the Spanish society for supporting me. I want to thank all of you, Spanish journalists, who have shared all the information about the World Championships and the successes of the Spanish team and myself. Right now, I want to give back – I want to do all the media events, I want to do all the events that I am asked to attend, to give something back to all the people that have supported me and shared all my successes.
“My main target for next year is the European Championships in Birmingham. Antonella Palmisano is going to defend her title, so we'll see. In December, we're going to start training together. She's going to train in Italy, I'm going to train in Spain, but we are going to follow the same training programme with our individual coaches. It's an honest and good rivalry that we have, and then we'll meet again in Birmingham and see what happens.”
On what she enjoys doing when she is not competing or training:
“I'm a big basketball fan. I like watching basketball games in Granada. I like walking around the city, just sightseeing. And I like staying with my family because I live very far from them. Lately, one thing I have really enjoyed is playing cards with my great grandmother.”
