Karoline Bjerkeli Grovdal: I did everything for the title, I wanted that gold

The silver medalist in the 5,000m at the Roma European Athletics Championships, Karoline Bjerkeli Grovdal, admitted that she really wanted the gold. The Norwegian athlete battled throughout for the title and led the run, but was overtaken by Nadia Battocletti (Italy) on the final lap.

“My goal was to try to get the gold and I did everything in my power. Of course, it’s bittersweet when you run the whole race and she’s right behind you the whole time. And of course she was strong in the end and that’s fair”, said Karoline Bjerkeli Grovdal. “I didn’t want to have a slow race and then just sprint on the last lap – that’s not the ideal race for me, so I decided to stay at the front and do a progressive run. I tried everything and everything is fine, but I really wanted that gold”, added she.

Karoline Bjerkeli Grovdal won bronze medals for the 10,000m at the 2016 European Athletics Championships, and in the 3,000m steeplechase at the 2018 European Athletics Championships

“I remember when I ran under 15 for the first time in my career and it was in this stadium when I was 23 or 24 and it was a huge race for me to break that barrier. So it’s good to come back to this stadium”, commented Karoline Bjerkeli Grovdal.