Nadia Battocletti feels like she did when she was a child
“It reminds me of when I was a child”. In what way, Nadia? “Yes, this path takes me back to when I used to run in the little park near my house, in Cavareno, it is called Pineta Park. Here in Lagoa I feel like I am reliving those same paths”. Now that she has grown up, but really grown up, Nadia Battocletti clutches every moment of her life, every moment that helped make her the champion she is. With dad Giuliano, she walks and runs up and down the course of Sunday’s European XC race, studying its characteristics, its pitfalls, its peculiarities such as the uphill start, the sequence of curves and ups and downs, the dirt road that appears quite compact.
Then, in the press conference on the eve of European Athletics, welcomed as a real star by President Dobromir Karamarinov, she outlines her own emotions and hopes for the race in Portugal (7.470 km, start at 1 p.m.), looking for her sixth continental cross-country title (gold in 2018-2019 as U20, 2021-2022 as U23, 2024 as absolute), to enter even more into the legend of this event. “I hope to be able to confirm myself as European champion after the Antalya 2024 title – comments – but I do not underestimate any of the opponents”. They include Turkey’s Can, Belgium’s Herbiet and Van Lent, Britain’s Keith, Portugal’s Machado, the Dutch Van Es, and Sweden’s Lahti. Continues Nadia: “I feel good on these courses, the one two weeks ago in the Alcobendas test was not so different. I will be captain of our team, which I consider very good in this edition as well: I will tell everyone to stay focused and push hard”.
A lot of curiosity in the international press for what has now become a’continental icon of athletics: “If I have changed my training method? For now only in the more scientific approach, with a larger and more specialized staff, and on the ability to listen better to my body and my sensations. When I finish my exams at the university I will be even more focused on my sports career, so far it has not been easy to reconcile everything”. In Portugal there will be no shortage of supporters from the ‘ExtraordiNadia’ fan club: “My mom is the ‘president’ – smiles– they are my extra push with their caps and flags”.
At the city’s urban park in the Algarve, on an 18-degree morning, all the Azzurri (42 in total) warm up their engines for a Sunday that promises to be sunny according to the eve weather forecast. Confirmed is the mixed relay formation with Pietro Arese (“Beautiful course, very technical, strange to say: a real cross, but without the mud”), Gaia Sabbatini, Marta Zenoni and Sebastiano Parolini. The first fractionalist will not be made official until the morning of the race, and by regulation the order of the other fractionalists can be changed as the race progresses. Portugal and Spain, on paper, are the top-ranked rivals for the defending champion Azzurri.
