Spain
2023
Two walkers, two distances, four golds in five days: Budapest 2023 was the championships where Spain filled a grid nobody had ever completed — twice.
Spain finished the Budapest 2023 World Championships third in the medal table with four golds — all four from two walkers: Álvaro Martín and María Pérez each won both the 20 and the 35 km, the first 20-and-35 doubles in Worlds history, completed simultaneously.
This is the double-double season: the matrix of the four golds, Pérez's 35 km world record that spring, Katir's silver with its honest asterisk, where it all led in Paris — and the Joma Spain 2023 issue in this archive.
Part of our Season Series — one year at a time. The full national story is in The History of Athletics in Spain. Jump to the 2023 kit or browse the collection.
- The result
- 3rd in the medal table of a Worlds — a first for Spain — with 4 golds + 1 silver
- The grid
- Martín and Pérez each won BOTH walks (20 + 35 km) — a double nobody had done once
- The record
- Pérez: 35 km world record 2:37:15 (Podebrady, spring 2023)
- The silver
- Katir, 5000 m — results stand; suspended until Feb 2028
- The comeback
- Peleteiro: back in international competition 15 months after giving birth
- The echo
- Pérez repeated the double in Tokyo 2025 — back-to-back, another first
- The farewell
- Martín: Olympic mixed-relay gold + bronze in Paris, then retirement (Sep 2024)
- Kit
- Joma — the double-double summer's federation issue
The Double Double
Budapest 2023 is the summit of Spanish athletics history, and it was built by two walkers in five days. Álvaro Martín won the 20 km on 19 August; María Pérez won the women's race the next day; and on the closing weekend both came back and won the 35 km too. Nobody in the history of the World Championships had completed one 20-and-35 double. Budapest got two at once — and Spain finished third in the medal table of a World Championships for the first time, with four golds and Katir's 5000 m silver (his results stand; he is suspended until February 2028).
Sources: Wikipedia, Spain at the 2023 World Championships; RFEA. Verified August 2026.
The four golds (table)
| Walker | Event | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Álvaro Martín | 20 KM | 19 Aug |
| Álvaro Martín | 35 KM | 24 Aug |
| María Pérez | 20 KM | 20 Aug |
| María Pérez | 35 KM | 24 Aug |
Pérez arrived as the world record holder over 35 km — her 2:37:15 from Podebrady that spring — and left as the most decorated Spanish athlete of a single championships ever. Ana Peleteiro, fifteen months after giving birth, was back in international competition by the summer; the European Games in Poland were her return meet.
What the Summer Started
The Budapest golds were not an ending. In Paris a year later, Martín and Pérez won Olympic gold together in the mixed marathon-walk relay — and Martín added individual bronze before retiring in September 2024, receiving his farewell honours from Pérez herself. She kept going: in Tokyo in 2025 she filled her row of the matrix again, the first back-to-back double double ever.
From this season · in the archiveJoma Spain Pro Elite 2023 Women Booty Short TightsJoma women's booty short tights from the 2023 allocation — the federation issue of the double-double summer.60,00 €View piece →The Joma Spain Kit
The double-double summer was raced in Joma, the federation's supplier since 2009. The piece of the 2023 allocation in this archive is the women's booty short tights — the racing cut of the Budapest season.
Joma has dressed the Spanish federation since 2009 — every season in this series was raced in Joma. The 2023 piece in this archive is the women's booty short tights of that allocation.
The full arc of the walking school that made this possible is in our history of athletics in Spain.
Spain 2023
One piece from the Spanish team's 2023 allocation — the Joma women's booty short tights of the Budapest summer, the season two walkers made history twice in five days.
What was Spain's double double at Budapest 2023?
Álvaro Martín and María Pérez each won both walking titles — the 20 km and the 35 km — at the same World Championships. No athlete had ever completed one such double; Budapest produced two simultaneously, and Spain finished third in the medal table for the first time.
Is María Pérez's world record still standing?
Her 35 km mark of 2:37:15, set in Podebrady in 2023, was still the world record as of the Tokyo 2025 coverage. She remains the double world champion in both distances after repeating the double in Tokyo.
What happened to Álvaro Martín?
He retired in September 2024, a month after winning Olympic gold in the mixed marathon-walk relay with Pérez and individual bronze in Paris — receiving his farewell medal of Extremadura from Pérez herself.
What kit did Spain wear in 2023?
Joma, the federation's supplier since 2009. The Spain collection holds the women's booty short tights of the 2023 issue.
Sources and References
- Wikipedia — Spain at the 2023 World Championships — the four golds, the silver, and third place in the medal table
- RFEA — María Pérez world champion — the 20 km title of 20 August
- Euronews — the Tokyo recap citing the 2:37:15 record — the 35 km world record from Podebrady
- Olympics.com — Martín announces his retirement — the September 2024 farewell after the Paris medals
- Olympics.com — Peleteiro’s comeback — the return fifteen months after motherhood