Evening to remember for Nadia Battocletti
An evening that seemed destined to be used more to get reacquainted with the track turned into a new date with glory for Nadia Battocletti. At the Madrid meeting, the fourth Gold stage of the World Indoor Tour, the Azzurra finished second but gave another great satisfaction to herself and to Italian athletics, equaling the national indoor record in the 1,500 meters with an excellent 4’03″59, the same chrono set by Marta Zenoni on Jan. 19, 2025 in Luxembourg.
The Trentino outfielder, Olympic and world silver medalist in the 10,000 and world bronze medalist in the 5,000, chose Madrid for her first indoor outing of the year, over a shorter distance than her usual territories. A choice that, in fact, paid off: Battocletti stayed covered in the early part of the race, then took the lead about 350 meters from the finish, showing great confidence until the conclusion. Only Ethiopia’s Birke Haylom, with a powerful change of pace in the last corner, managed to overtake her and win in 4’02″37.
What happened in the last few meters, however, does not change the substance of an equaled national record that confirms Nadia Battocletti’s versatility, as well as her ability to be competitive even over distances that are not “hers”. With this result, Battocletti brings to seven the number of absolute Italian records held, which include the outdoor 3,000 (8’26″27), the 5,000 (14’23″15, second European all-time), the 10.000 (30’38″23 worth the world silver in Tokyo), the indoor 3,000 (8’30″82), the 10-kilometer road race (31’10”) and the 5-kilometer road race (14’32” also a European record).
The records
The records thus confirm the great competitiveness, on several fronts, of Battocletti, an outlier capable of rewriting the history of Italian middle distance running on track and road, indoors and outdoors. His previous indoor personal best in the 1,500 was a distant 4’20″44 in 2021, almost 17″ slower than today’s time.
The evening in Madrid also smiled on Ludovica Cavalli, who opened her indoor season with a convincing 4’06″38 in the same race, a new personal best and the fourth Italian time ever. A solid showing, confirming the Genovese woman’s growth and enriching the women’athletics movement.
