AGI – Dalla triumphal march by Antonella Palmisano in the 20 kilometers to the winning ride of Nadia Battocletti in the 5000 meters. This is the beginning and conclusion of the first exciting day of the XXVI Championships European Athletics Championships returned to the eternal city after exactly half a century. An event that will continue until Wednesday 12th and which will see over 1600 athletes representing 48 Nations at the start. The opening day of Rome 2024 immediately gave Italy a gift two fantastic effort golds and two silvers, that of Valentina Trapletti Always in the 20 km race walk and the 4×400 mixed race. In the midst of many emotions in an Olympic stadium which today will see the Olympic 100 meter champion sprinting Marcell Jacobs and Leonardo Fabbri go hunting for gold in the weigh-in with the hope of slightly more blue-coloured stands than on the first evening. In short, a start to the European Championship – it was inaugurated in the late afternoon by the Minister of Sport and Youth, Andrea Abodi together with the mayor of Rome, Roberto Gualtieri – which could not have been better for Italy.
Palmisano, Olympic champion in Tokyo in 2021, on the route created between the Stadio dei Marmi and Piazza della Fontana della Sfera with arrival inside the Stadio Olimpico, once again showed her superiority both on a tactical level and in walking technique. ‘Nelly’ increased his pace towards the tenth kilometer and then ran away shortly after half the race. The 32-year-old walker from Mottola, bearer of the Fiamme Gialle and trained by her husband Lorenzo Dessi, finished in 1 hour 28’09. Confirming the long Italian tradition of ‘heel-toe’, there is the silver of the 38 year old Milanese Valentina Trapletti (Army) who at the end of April had won gold at the World Team Championships in the new format of the mixed relay.
Completing the podium was the Ukrainian Lyudmila Olyanovska (1h28’48) who won the sprint over the Spanish Laura Garcia-Caro. “I experienced the race with a smile, I enjoyed it to the hilt, I am aware of the path I took to get here. I missed this gold, I was a bit sad because I had seen little attention for the race , instead I found a truly enthusiastic audience.” Antonella said that she adds another gold to her wonderful collection which also includes two world bronzes (2017 and 2023) and a European bronze (2018). “I came from a series of physical problems and characterized by a technical change – added Antonella who was previously followed by Patrizio Parcesepe -. I dedicate the medal to Massimo Stano, I know how difficult it is to see it from home and I also know that this gold will give the motivation to go strong at the Games.”
Palmisano is the second Italian race walker in history to win continental gold. Before the Mottola marcher, the unforgettable Annarita Sidoti of Gioiosa Marea who passed away on May 21st nine years ago had succeeded. In 1990, at just 21 years old, Sidoti won gold in the 10 km at the end of a moving race, repeating it eight years later in Budapest. At the Foro Italico, Palmisano led the Italian team on the podium together with Valentina Trapletti. In 1998 in the Hungarian capital, Sidoti won ahead of Erica Alfridi. In the last match of the first evening here is the icing on the cake. A medal from the 5000 women was expected but not exactly the most prized one. And instead, a 24-year-old girl from Val di Non in the Trentino mountains thought of itNadia Battocletti who presented herself in an extraordinary condition.
The tactical performance of the Fiamme Azzurre middle-distance runner was perfect and, in addition to taking the crown of ‘Queen’ of the 5000m, she set the new Italian record and the championship record by stopping the time in 14’35″29. Always slyly behind the pacesetter, the Norwegian Karoline Bjerkeli Grovdal, the Italian changed pace at the entrance to the straight leaving the Scandinavian almost on the spot who finished in 14’38″62. For Nadia this is an improvement of six seconds compared to the previous limit, that 14’41″30 run eleven months ago in London.
Bronze to the Spanish Marta Garcia (14’44″04). For Nadia, trained by her father Giuliano, a former Italian middle-distance runner (with 13’20″88 she boasts the tenth Italian all-time time in the 5000m), there is also the satisfaction of record of the Championships: beaten, in fact, the 14’46″12 of the Dutch Sifan Hassan on 12 August 2018 in Berlin. In the middle the silver of the Italian 4×400 mixed relay team. Luca Sito, Anna Polinari, Edoardo Scotti and Alice Mangione concluded in 3’10″69, new Italian record. Gold went to Ireland for Christopher O’Donnell, Rhasidat Adeleke, Thomas Barr and Sharlene Mawdsley with 3’09″92. Bronze went to the Netherlands for the always stellar Femke Bol (3’10″73). The result of the Italian quartet qualifies for the Paris Olympics.
