European champion on track, road and cross country Nadia Battocletti will race over 1500m indoors for the first time in five years at the World Indoor Tour Gold Madrid, on 6 February.
The Italian star, who defended her SPAR European Cross Country Championships title in Lagoa in December, adding to the 10km road title she picked up at the European Road Running Championships in Brussels-Leuven in April and the 5000m and 10,000m titles at the Roma 2024 European Athletics Championships, is an infrequent competitor indoors.
Rare indoor outing
Despite dominating on the roads, track and cross country, she only competed indoors once last year, setting a 3000m indoor national record of 8:30.82 in Liévin, France.
Having won Olympic and world 10,000m silver and world 5000m bronze, she is stepping back down to the shorter distance of 1500m in Madrid, with the potential to extend her prowess.
Her last indoor 1500m saw her run 4:20.44 in 2021 in Padova, however she has evolved significantly and her outdoor personal best now stands at 3:58.15.
Battocletti may also have her eyes on another Italian record, one of the few that she is yet to grasp. She holds the Italian record for the 3000m (outdoors and short track), 5000m and 10,000m on track and the 5k and 10km on road, as well as the European record in the 5km.
But the indoor Italian record, held by Marta Zenoni of 4:03.59 that had previously stood for over 40 years until she broke it last year, looks well within Battocletti’s grasp.