Maria Perez has earned her first-ever Olympic hardware.

The 28-year-old Spanish race walker improved on her 2020 Tokyo Games performance to claim a silver in the women’s 20KM walk at the 2024 Paris Games.

Perez, the 2023 world champion in the event, finished the race on Thursday with a time of 1:26:19, behind only China’s Yang Jiayu, who finished the race slightly ahead of Perez at 1:25:54.

Australia’s Jemima Montag earned the bronze with a time of 1:26:25.

Perez previously placed fourth in the women’s 20KM walk at the 2020 Tokyo Games.

In addition to her world championship in the women’s 20KM walk last year, Perez also won the title in the women’s 35KM race walk at the same event.