Francesco Fortunato (born 13 December 1994) is an Italian race walker.
He is the world record holder of 5000 metres race walk indoor.
Career He won a bronze medal at the 2024 European Athletics Championships, sixteen national championships and has participated at three editions of the World Athletics Championships (2017, 2022, 2023). He also competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in the 20 km walk.
In 2025 he improved on the 5000 metres race walk world record, with a time of 17:55.65, but his performance was not ratified as a world record due to the competition not meeting the level of judges required by World Athletics. However, in February 2026 he improved on the 5000 metres race walk world record, with a time of 17:54.48.
Statistics World Record 5000 metres race walk short track: 17:54.48 - Ancona, Italy, 28 February 2026
European Record : 1:23:00 - Poděbrady, Czech Republic, 8 May 2026
Achievements Year Competition Venue Position EventTimeNotes2012World Junior ChampionshipsBarcelona, Spain21st10,000 m walk43:13.272013European Junior ChampionshipsRieti, Italy6th10,000 m walk42:23.992014Mediterranean U23 ChampionshipsAubagne, France3rd10,000 m walk42:53.522015European U23 ChampionshipsTallinn, Estonia11th20 km walk1:28:202016Mediterranean U23 ChampionshipsTunis, Tunisia1st10,000 m walk39:46.252017World ChampionshipsLondon, United Kingdom28th20 km walk1:22:012018World Race Walking CupTaicang, China2nd20 km walk (team)29 ptsEuropean ChampionshipsBerlin, Germany16th20 km walk1:23:042019UniversiadeNaples, Italy5th20 km walk1:23:532021Olympic GamesTokyo, Japan15th20 km walk1:23:432022World ChampionshipsEugene, United States15th20 km walk1:22:502023World ChampionshipsBudapest, Hungary11th20 km walk1:19:012024World Race Walking CupAntalya, Turkey1stMixed relay2:56:45 European ChampionshipsRome, Italy3rd20 km walk1:19:54Olympic GamesParis, France20th20 km walk1:20:382025World ChampionshipsTokyo, Japan16th20 km walk1:21:002026World Team ChampionshipsBrasília, Brazil1st Half marathon walk 1:27:25 5th Half marathon walk (team) 62 pts
National titles He won 19 national championships at senior level.
Italian Athletics Championships 10,000 m walk track: 2020, 2021 (2) 10 km walk: 2016, 2022, 2023, 2025 (4) 20 km walk: 2017, 2019, 2023, 2024 (4) Italian Indoor Athletics Championships 5000 m walk: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026 (9)
See also List of world records in athletics List of European records in athletics List of Italian records in athletics Italian team at the running events Italy at the World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships Italy at the European Race Walking Team Championships
Notes
References
External links
Francesco Fortunato at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics (archived, alternate link) Francesco Fortunato – CONI – Paris 2024