from the correspondent in Rome – “Dad told me: do like Pogacar, come out at the last minute and go. It’s an important victory, I’ve been through some difficult moments. The dedication is for myself. I have to thank my parents and my psychologist “. These are the words of Nadia Battocletti at the end of the 5000 meters in that of Rome. The thirty-year-old class of 2000 arrives late in the tunnel of the Olympic stadium, but happy as Easter. Tonight, perhaps, was the best race of her career: control, positioning, management, and then sprint, in the last 70 metres, as her father had told her. A gold medal – first title at European level – arrived in front of her people with the new Italian record and new championship record (14’35″29). A dream.
The Norwegian could do nothing against the blue hurricane Karoline Grøvdal: the native of Ålesund dictated the pace with authority, but on the final straight she was literally stripped by Battocletti, champion by distance (14’38″62). The Spaniard was third Marta Garciaauthor of a silent but constant race in 14’44″04. The other Italian was seventh, Federica Del Buonohowever satisfied with her personal time of 15’00″05.
“A fabulous evening, I have tears of emotion. It was a very tough race. I imagined that my opponents would immediately put her on the pace, because they know that my strong point is the finish. The mental coach wrote me a beautiful message this afternoon: go get it. She didn’t mean the gold medal, but the desire to go back to doing what I like. I obviously had a moment of difficulty, because it was a frenetic pace anyway, but I saw her in front of her and I said to myself: No, you got me in crosses, but not this one. This is my home”.
