Francesco Fortunato

Francesco Fortunato (born 13 December 1994) is an Italian race walker.

He is the world record holder of 5000 metres race walk indoor. 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

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)