Nadia Battocletti rounded off her 2023 season on a high with victory on home soil over 5km at the BOClassic in Bolzano on Sunday (31).
Battocletti won the famous New Year’s Eve race on a lapped course around the twisty, cobbled streets of Bolzano in 15:30 and in doing so, the 23-year-old became the first Italian winner of this race since 1988.
Battocletti defeated two excellent Kenyans for this accolade. World 1500m finalist Nelly Chepchirchir finished second in 15:33 with two-time world medallist Margaret Kipkemboi third in 15:50.
Battocletti has proved herself across all surfaces this year but her focus remains very much on the track with the Roma 2024 European Athletics Championships and the Paris 2024 Olympic Games also on the horizon.
"I was confident because the last training sessions went very well and I could feel the cheering from the spectators as the laps went by. But when my mother shouted to encourage me, as only she can do, with 600 meters to go I told myself that now was the time to leave," said Battocletti as quoted by FIDAL.
On her plans for 2024, Battocletti said: "For the new year, the idea of running the 1500m at the Paris Olympics is taking shape, but I don’t want to abandon the 5000m."
In the men’s race, European 10,000m champion Yemaneberhan Crippa finished second in the 10km behind reigning world half marathon champion Sabastian Sawe - 28:00 to 28:03.
Crippa’s next goal is the Seville Marathon on 18 February on the road to the European Athletics Championships in Rome from 7-12 June.
Lobalu equals European 5km record in Barcelona
Dominic Lobalu matched Jimmy Gressier’s European 5km record with victory at the Cursa dels Nassos in Barcelona in 13:12 to match the record set by the Frenchman last February.
Lobalu, who was born in South Sudan, has lived and trained in Switzerland since May 2019 and gained Swiss citizenship last year but he won’t be eligible to compete for Switzerland internationally until April 2026.
There was a Belgian double at the Silvesterlauf in Trier. Isaac Kimeli, who was part of Belgium’s gold medal-winning team in the senior men’s race at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships, won the 8km for the fourth time in 22:29 by one second from Germany’s Nils Voigt (22:30) and Morocco’s Zouhair Talbi (22:30).
"Running in Trier almost feels like home for me; it’s always great here. Next year I want to win a medal in the 10,000m at the European Athletics Championships in Rome and then compete in the Olympics in Paris," said Kimeli as quoted by Leichtathletik.de.
Lisa Rooms, who won bronze for Belgium in the senior women’s team race at the European Cross Country Championships, won the women’s 5km in 15:29 just ahead of Rwanda’s Emeline Imanizabayo who was credited with the same time.
On the comeback trail after giving birth to her first child earlier this year, two-time European 3000m steeplechase champion and 2015 world bronze medallist Gesa Felicitas Krause was seventh in 16:02.
European indoor 3000m champion Hanna Klein won the Bietigheimer Silvesterlauf over 10.75km in 35:07 ahead of Eva Dieterich (35:22) and Deborah Schoneborn (35:23). Simon Boch won the men's race in 30:54 by almost two minutes.
At the Sandharlanden Silvesterlauf, European U20 5000m silver medallist Kira Weis finished third overall in the 10km in 32:19 to break the German U20 10km record of 32:24 previously held by European 5000m champion Konstanze Klosterhalfen.
At the We Run Rome 10km, Italian marathon record-holder Sofiia Yaremchuk took the victory in 33:39 in her first race since clocking 2:23:16 in the Valencia Marathon.
"Among my objectives for the new season cannot be missing the half marathon of the European Championships in Rome in June to chase a great result," said Yaremchuk as quoted by FIDAL.
Pasquale Selvarolo won the men’s race in 29:11 just ahead of 2014 European marathon champion Daniele Meucci in 29:15.