It's every athlete's worst nightmare. 

You're in the home straight, draped in your country's flag, the finish line just ahead of you and a hard-earned championship medal just within your grasp.

As you raise your hand to celebrate, from seemingly nowhere, a rival comes past you in the final 2 metres to snatch away your bronze medal.

That was the nightmare faced by Spanish race walker Laura García-Caro at the end of the 20-kilometre race walk at the European Championships in Rome overnight.

After racing for close to 90 minutes around the streets of Rome, García-Caro entered the stadium feeling like a medal was in her grasp.

Italy's Antonella Palmisano had just led a home 1-2, heading 38-year-old countrywoman Valentina Trapletti to the delight of the Rome crowd.

García-Caro, who had been passed by Trapletti earlier in the race, seemed thrilled to claim a medal, smiling and waving with the Spanish flag around her shoulders.

But her look of joy turned to abject horror just 2m from the line as Ukraine's Lyudmyla Olyanovska suddenly appeared on her shoulder.

García-Caro had no more gears to go through and, distraught, crossed the line in fourth.

"I was tired in the last kilometre and last metres, but I wanted to win this medal for my country so much," Olyanovska said.

"Nowadays, there is a war in Ukraine. We train under very difficult conditions. 

"They do not have electricity, there is no internet, no light, so I do not know if he saw me on the TV."

Elsewhere, Italy also claimed 5,000m gold with Nadia Battocletti running a championship record of 14 minutes 35.29 seconds.

Ireland won the 4x400 mixed relay to win its first gold at the European Championship since Sonia O’Sullivan swept the 5,000 and 10,000 in 1998.