Olympic 10,000m silver medallist Nadia Battocletti has been officially selected for the Italy team for the European Running Championships in Brussels-Leuven on 12-13 April.
Battocletti enjoyed a dream season last year winning a 5000m/10,000m double in front of her home fans at the Roma 2024 European Athletics Championships before winning Olympic silver in Paris and ending the year by winning gold at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships.
In taking on the 10km at Brussels-Leuven, she has the unique opportunity to become European champion on three surfaces. She will be joined in the Italian team by another Roma 2024 medallist, Pietro Riva, who was second in the half marathon event last year. He will race over the same distance in Brussels-Leuven.
The half marathon team also features Yohanes Chiappinelli who lowered the Italian marathon record to 2:05:24 in the Valencia Marathon last December. He was also part of Italy's gold medal-winning team in the half marathon in Roma 2024 where he finished 10th individually.
There are 22 athletes in a strong Italian team that is sure to put in another strong challenge for individual and team medals across multiple disciplines.
Entries are still open for the inaugural European Running Championships, where recreational runners will have the opportunity to run with the elite athletes. Limited places are still available across 10km, half marathon and marathon disciplines.
Chris Broadbent for European Athletics