Massimo Stano and Sofia Fiorini gave Italy a marathon race walk double in Birmingham, as Britain's Cameron Corbishley finished 19th in the men's race.

Italy claimed both European titles in the inaugural marathon race walks on Saturday, with Massimo Stano surviving a gripping three-way fight to the line and 21-year-old Sofia Fiorini producing a dominant world record performance in the women's race – a fitting follow-up to Paul McGrath and María Pérez's earlier victories in the half marathon race walks over the same Birmingham circuit.

Stano's race had everything. Hungary's Bence Venyercsán, aggressive from almost the first kilometre, led for long stretches with Spain's Miguel Ángel López and Italy's own Stano both clawing their way back into contention through the second half.

With just over four kilometres remaining, Stano finally hit the front and from there he held on to win European gold in 2:56:49 – a European record and world lead for the year.

Behind, Venyercsán, who had carried two warnings for much of the closing stages, was directed into the penalty area right at the finish and handed a four-minute penalty, a brutal conclusion to nearly three hours spent at the sharp end of the race that dropped him out of the medals entirely and down to fourth.

It promoted López to silver in a personal best of 2:56:57, just eight seconds behind Stano, with France's Aurélien Quinion elevated to bronze in a personal best 2:59:29. Perseus Karlström, fourth on the road, moved up to fourth on the revised standings with a Swedish record 3:00:18.

Britain's Cameron Corbishley was the leading home finisher, taking 19th in a personal best of 3:13:31 – a solid performance after building his career on the 20km walk and a mark that suggests there could be more to come from him over 42.2km in future championships.

In the women's race, Fiorini needed no such late twist, producing one of the performances of the championships to win the inaugural title in a world record 3:15:11, which also stood as a European under-23 record.

The young Italian had been locked together with Poland's Katarzyna Zdziebło for much of the race, the pair still side by side with 14km to go, before Fiorini made her decisive move with just over 9km remaining and simply ran away from the field. Her advantage grew so large in the closing stages that she lapped the athlete occupying the bronze medal position before crossing the line herself.

Zdziebło, who holds the fastest mark in history over the distance, had to settle for silver in a Polish record of 3:19:50, with Spain's Raquel González claiming bronze in a personal best 3:20:49. There was disappointment for early leader Eleonora Giorgi, part of the leading group for much of the opening two-thirds of the race, who did not finish.

READ MORE: European half-marathon race walks coverage

As with the men's race, organisers noted that world record status for these new marathon race walk distances comes with the caveat that the event's record books are still being established – Fiorini's time is around nine minutes slower than the fastest performance ever recorded over the marathon walking distance in less formal circumstances, but it stands as a legitimate championship and world record regardless.

Men's marathon race walk: 1 Massimo Stano (ITA) 2:56:49 ER, WL; 2 Miguel Ángel López (ESP) 2:56:57; 3 Aurélien Quinion (FRA) 2:59:29; 4 Perseus Karlström (SWE) 3:00:18 NR; 5 Riccardo Orsoni (ITA) 3:00:44; 6 Bence Venyercsán (HUN) 3:01:18; 7 Daniel Chamosa (ESP) 3:02:32; 8 Christopher Linke (GER) 3:02:58; … 19 Cameron Corbishley (GBR) 3:13:31

Women's marathon race walk: 1 Sofia Fiorini (ITA) 3:15:11 WR, EU23R; 2 Katarzyna Zdziebło (POL) 3:19:50 NR; 3 Raquel González (ESP) 3:20:49; 4 Antigoni Ntrismpioti (GRE) 3:22:16; 5 Panagiota Tsinopoulou (GRE) 3:25:14; 6 Hanna Shevchuk (UKR) 3:26:02; 7 Lucia Redondo (ESP) 3:28:28; 8 Camille Moutard (FRA) 3:26:18