Five individual titles and counting! Nadia Battocletti has been almost an ever-present on top of the podium since winning the U20 title at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Tilburg in 2018.
Fast forward six years later and the Italian made history by becoming the first woman in championship history to win individual titles in the U20, U23 and senior ranks in Antalya last December, a feat which has only been achieved on the men's side by compatriot Andrea Lalli.
Ahead of Battocletti's title defence in Lagoa on 14 December, we take a look back at some of her finest moments at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships so far.
2018
While the men's U20 race featured an outstanding favourite in Jakob Ingebrigtsen, the women's U20 race at the 2018 SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Tilburg was a significantly more wide open and competitive affair.
But on a muddy and twisty course which saw some of the prospective favourites fall in a mid-race collision, a young Nadia Battocletti seized her chance, sprinting to her first of five individual gold medals in Tilburg.
2019
Despite lining up as the reigning champion, it was far from a given that Battocletti would retain her U20 title in Lisbon.
Battocletti faced a field including four recently crowned gold medallists from the 2019 European Athletics U20 Championships which were held in Boras, Sweden in July, including Slovenia’s Klara Lukan who defeated Battocletti for the 5000m title.
However, Battocletti eased away from Lukan on the long downhill straight to the finish-line to crown her junior career in style with back-to-back U20 titles in Lisbon.
2021
Battocletti had improved immensely in 2021, winning the 5000m at the European Athletics Team Championships and taking a surprise and confidence-boosting seventh-place finish in the same event at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
Despite admitting she was coming into the race at only “70 to 80 percent fitness” having taken time off after the track season to focus on her studies, Battocletti continued her serene progress through the age-group ranks, recovering from a mid-race stumble before kicking to U23 gold in Dublin.
Incidentally, the 1-2-3 in the U23 race was identical to the 1-2-3 in the U20 race in Lisbon 2019. Battocletti won the title ahead of Lukan with Portugal’s Mariana Machado taking bronze again.
2022
After a troubled year with injury and illness, Battocletti was at her very best on home soil in Turin where she was cheered to victory with gusto by a large crowd at the 2022 SPAR European Cross Country Championships on a picturesque course set in the grounds of La Mandria Park.
Battocletti pulled away from Great Britain’s 2021 European U20 cross country champion Megan Keith on the steep uphill climb on the last lap, opening up a winning margin of 13 seconds to win her second U23 title and her fourth successive individual title in total.
2024
History made! After winning silver behind Norway’s Karoline Bjerkeli Grøvdal in 2023, Battocletti completed the full set of titles in 2024, capping a stellar year which included a 5000/10,000m double at the European Athletics Championships in Rome and 10,000m silver at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Battocletti became the first woman in SPAR European Cross Country Championships history 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.
And the Italian has already confirmed that she will defend her title in Lagoa, Portugal on 14 December.
