Nadia Battocletti after the title: The fans in the stadium gave me a lot of energy

Nadia Battocletti gave Italy a second gold at the European Athletics Championships in Rome after she prevailed in the final of the 5,000m yesterday, beating Karoline Bjerkeli Grovdal (Norway) in the final metres. Nadia Battocletti also improved the record of the championships under the thunderous applause of the audience.

“It was a difficult race, it wasn’t easy for me to maintain this pace, but in the last two laps I felt that I had the opportunity to take something very important. I went through some physical problems in the last month and I wasn’t too confident to get this medal, but all my friends and all the Italian supporters gave me a lot of energy in the stadium”, said Nadia Battocletti.

“This is a gold medal for anyone who believes in something. This is a gold medal for my father and trainer Giuliano: his experience as a former athlete guarantees me many perfect tips and suggestions. He suggested me to wait until the last meters before overtaking Grovdal: I did exactly that and it worked”, added she.

Nadia Battocletti is an Italian female middle- and long-distance runner. She won the gold medal for the 5,000m at the 2021 European Under-23 Championships. She earned four individual gold medals in the U20 and U23 age groups at the European Cross Country Championships.