10000 gold for Italy
Nadia Battocletti ran a national record 30:51.32 for the host country in front of her president. Second was Diane Van Es (Netherlands 30:57.24), with Britain’s Megan Keith third in 31:04.77. There were 33 athletes in the race – too many and of too varied a quality. The race started with a recall – a faulty start rather than an athlete trying to gain a hundredth of a second advantage in a half-hour race. It added to the drama. There was also the inconvenience for the high jumpers, as the 10k ladies kept wanting to run across their run-up area.
By the end of the second lap, a group of nine had broken away, half-way reduced to six. Just after halfway, the leaders started to lap the rest of the field. In the men’s 10k, there was a B race as well as the main race. I would have preferred to see that in the women’s rather than having athletes lap and finish 3 and 4 minutes behind the winner. Seeing five PRs among the top eight at the other end of the race was great.
The winner commented: “I experienced another magical evening: this is truly a wonder. I really enjoyed myself; that is what I wanted to do. In my career, I have only had one high-level race at this distance, last July in London; I never would have expected something like this. I think I have made another leap in quality these past few days, and today’s race proves it. I can’t believe I have won two gold medals at the Championships. Breaking another Italian record in a night like this is something very important: it was another of my goals, as well. But, amazingly, I did it in front of such amazing crows. I had three exams this week. The first was an exam in Wood Architecture at the University of Trento, which I attended just the day before leaving for Rome. Then these two races: I passed them all with great results!”
Three British athletes were in the race, and in the early stages, all three were together in the leading group. Sadly, Eilish McColgan and Jess Warner-Judd dropped out first. Megan Keith’s magnificent performance in what was only her third 10K race was remarkable. She placed third in Europe, and afterward, she bragged about herself for not being more aggressive!
Megan commented: “I’m really happy. I knew Nadia (Battocletti) was…
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