A winner of four European cross country titles, Nadia Battocletti made a winning debut in the 10,000m at the Italian 10,000m Championships in Brescia on Sunday (7) on a busy weekend of domestic 10,000m championship competition.
Battocletti, who finished seventh in the 5000m final at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, covered the last kilometre in a swift 3:07.86 en route to yet another domestic title in 33:06.25. Across all surfaces and age-groups, Battocletti has now amassed 31 Italian titles.
The 23-year-old pulled clear in the last 700 metres from Anna Arnaudo - who has accompanied Battocletti on many victorious Italian teams at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships - who was second in 33:16.95
In the men’s race, European fifth-placer Pietro Riva won the national title in 28:21.88 by almost 100 metres from Pasquale Selvarolo in 28:36.77.
Riva also finished fifth at the European 10,000m Cup in Pacé last year and the Italian team for this year’s competition on 3 June will be emboldened by the likely inclusion of European champion Yemaneberhan Crippa who will refocus on the track after making his marathon debut this spring.
Mayer and Voigt claim the German 10,000m titles in Mittweida
At the German 10,000m Championships in Mittweida on Saturday (6) evening, Domenika Mayer caused something of an upset with victory in the women’s race.
With European indoor 3000m champion Hanna Klein dropping out on her debut and European cross country champion Alina Reh fading to fifth in 33:21.43, Mayer won her first German title on the track in a lifetime best of 32:14.34.
"It was fun, even if I don't really like putting on the spikes. There were spectators everywhere and cheered us on. That pushed me. In my head I was completely free. Then I accelerated on the last lap and it was enough,” said Mayer.
Mayer is arguably one of Europe’s most versatile distance runners. She was part of Germany’s gold medal-winning team in the marathon at the 2022 European Athletics Championships and she has recently been named on the German team for next month’s World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in Austria.
In the men’s race, Nils Voigt won his second German 10,000m title in 28:03.15 ahead of Filimon Abraham in 28:12.79.
"With good acceleration, I've become German champion. In two weeks I'll run the 10,000 meters in London [the Night of the 10,000m PBs] again to collect more points for the world ranking,” said Voigt.
At the Turkish 10,000m Championships in Mersin on Saturday (6), Ramazan Ozdemir won the men’s race in 28:28.48 ahead of Sezgin Atac in 28:33.85. In the women’s race, Fatma Karasu took the victory in 32:51.86 over Bahar Atalay in 32:52.74.