Reigning champion Nadia Battocletti is the standout name on Italy’s team of 42 athletes for the SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Lagoa, Portugal on 14 December.
Battocletti became the first woman in championship history last year to win individual titles at U20, U23 and senior level. She also led Italy to their first ever team title in the senior women’s race.
The Italian team also includes Elisa Palmero, Valentina Gemetto and Nicole Reina, all of whom were part of Italy’s gold medal-winning team along with Battocletti in Antalya last year.
There will also be high hopes in the mixed relay in which Italy will be targeting their third title since 2022. Their team includes three members of their gold medal-winning team from last year - Sebastiano Parolini, Marta Zenoni and Pietro Arese - as well as Gaia Sabbatini, who anchored Italy to a memorable gold medal on home soil in Turin 2022.
In the absence of last year’s silver medallist Yemaneberhan Crippa, the senior men’s team is helmed by Italian marathon record-holder Yohanes Chiappinelli who finished sixth in the marathon at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.
Chiappinelli won U20 silver behind Jakob Ingebrigtsen in 2016. His best placing as a senior was eighth at the 2022 SPAR European Cross Country Championships.
The full Italian team can be found here.