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Battocletti and Ingebrigsten Win European Cross Country

By mitchpa on December 9, 2024 • ( 0 )

By Clay Shaw
Photographs courtesy of Getty Images for European Athletics

Antalya, Turkey, 12/8/2024, SPAR European XC Championships 2024—The pre-race favorites came through with solid wins at the Euro XC in Antalya, Turkey. We have been to the previous five European Athletics XC meets in person. Sadly, we were unable to cover this year’s events in person, but covered it remotely, getting up at 2:45 AM to watch the fantastic coverage. Our friends from the East Kilbridge Athletic Club (Scotland) were there, of course. The 2025 meet will be in Lagoa, Portugal, a small town on the Algarve Coast.

Nadia Battocletti of Italy, in her first race as a “senior” (she’s 24), pulled away to a 9-second win in 25:43 on the 7.5 km course. With this win, she has become the first female athlete in history to take gold in every age group, U20, U23, and Senior at SPAR European Cross Country Championships!!! Konstanze Klosterhalfen of Germany was second in 25:54 as she returns to good health after picking up a wicked virus in Ethiopia that knocked her out of the Paris Olympics and other 2024 events. Yasemin Can of host country Turkey was third in 26:01. Delvine Meringor of Romania, a 2:20 marathoner, was fourth in 26:03. Jana Van Lent of Belgium was the surprise fifth place finisher in 26:04. Italy won the team competition, with Great Britain in second and Belgium in third. 79 athletes finished the course that had multiple laps and man-made obstacles consisting of sand, mud, logs, and a hurdle made of upside-down broom heads.

In the men’s senior race, Jakob Ingebrigsten of Norway was the favorite to win, with 19 European golds at age 24. He took over on the penultimate lap, winning by eight seconds in 22:16. Yemaneberhan Crippa of Italy earned the silver medal in 22:24. Thierry Ndikimweanyo of Spain was the bronze medal winner in 22:31. Isaac Kimeli of Belgium was fourth in 22:33. Andreas Almgren of Sweden was fifth in 22:34. Spain won the team title. Belgium was second. Great Britain was third.

The Mixed Relay is a great event, with teams of two men and two women. Teams may select a woman or a man for each leg of the race, which means men and women can run against each other. As it turned out, only one team, Andorra, had decided to run two men and then two women, instead of all other teams, who ran their men against men and women against women. It didn’t work out well, as Team Andorra finished last. For the remaining teams, it all came down to an all-out sprint with Pietro Arese of Italy breaking the tape in 18:02. France (#2) and Great Britain (#3) were also timed at 18:02, as the finish sprint was so close. The Italian team featured Sebastiano Parolini, Marla Zenoni, Sintayehu Vissa, and Arese.

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