Italy’s Nadia Battocletti eased to a serene and successful defence of her senior women’s title at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Lagoa, Portugal on 14 December.
Battocletti won a comfortable 15 seconds ahead of Great Britain’s Megan Keith to take her tally of individual European cross country titles up to six.
In summary:
- Nadia Battocletti eases to back-to-back senior women's titles
- Megan Keith recovers from an early fall to win first senior cross country medal with silver
- Excellent packing helps Belgium to historic gold
How the race unfolded...
Almost imperceptibly, Battocletti gradually increased the pressure on Megan Keith and Türkiye’s former four-time champion Yasemin Can on the penultimate lap which she covered in 4:58 compared to 5:03 for the previous lap.
Battocletti heard the bell sound with a three-second advantage over Can and Keith, who "fell flat on her face" in early stages in a melee off the start-line, and the 25-year-old looked barely troubled on a twisty and undulating course at the Parc Urban Parchal as she extended her winning margin significantly on the last lap.
Having already won two U20 and U23 titles at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships, Battocletti repeated this feat at senior level and she became just the fourth woman in championship history to successfully defend this title.
Battocletti crossed the finish-line in the Parchal Urban Park in splendid isolation, winning the senior women’s race over 7.47km in 24:52 by 15 seconds over Keith who overhauled Can on the last lap for the silver medal.
And behind the leading trio, a vastly improving Belgian team moved through the field en masse to win a historic team title in the senior women’s race ahead of Great Britain and France with last year's team champions Italy just missing out on a bronze by one point despite Battocletti's heroics.
European 10,000m Cup winner Jana Van Lent matched her fourth-place finish from last year in 25:24, finishing just ahead of Lisa Rooms in fifth in 25:34 with their third-counter Chloe Herbiet finishing a brilliant seventh in 25:43, just one week after finishing third in the Valencia Marathon in a national record of 2:20:38.
Sweden's Sarah Lahti, who was in contention with the medal-winning trio in the early stages, stumbled on the third lap and drifted back to ninth in 25:48.
European indoor 1500m champion Agathe Guillemot collapsed across the finish-line in 11th in 25:54 but her exertions did not go in vain as she led France to team bronze, their first medal in the senior women's race at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships since 2015.
There was also disappointment for last year's fifth-placer and home favourite Mariana Machado, twice a bronze medallist behind Battocletti in the U20 and U23 ranks, who was one of the notable non-finishers.
What they said
Nadia Battocletti: "This victory is very precious because each race, each cross country championships is different so I am happy to re-add this title, my sixth already. To defend this title means a lot to me. It is crazy because I did this triplette [U20, U23 and senior titles], as we say in Italian.
"Now the expectations are high and I want to be ready for the indoor season. Christmas is now around the corner but all I wish is to finish my university exams successfully. I have the last one on 30 December, so my wish is to complete my university career.
"I can imagine myself as an architect sometime in the future. Right now, I just want to finally finish the university and focus just on training and sports. Last five years have been crazy to combine the university and athletics."
Megan Keith: "After 10 seconds I fell flat on my face, I got off on last place so I was trying to be patient but it was hard, I did not want to be at the back, but during the whole time I was trying to measure my effort, and it paid off because I could have easily over-committed. Also, I was able to control my thought and the nerves during the race."
Yasemin Can: "Sometimes in sport you have to accept what you get and then you move on to the next goals. I don't have any plans for my next competitions but one thing I know: I will return to European Cross Country Championships next year, for sure, because cross country has a special place in my heart."
