-
THOMAS CAMPOS
Updated
The international athletic season opens, at least in the Old Continent, with the European Cross Country, which this Sunday, December 8, brings together the best of the specialty in the Turkish city of Antalya, starting with the Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen, who will try to regain the crown he lost last year in Brussels due to an Achilles tendon injury.
Ingebrigtsen is an all-rounder with an insatiable appetite who does not miss any important competition unless there is an injury, something that happened last season when he had to give up the indoor track – or short, as you prefer – to return in a big way with a third consecutive 1,500-5,000 double at the European Championships in Rome.
Then would come the setback of the 1,500 meters final in Paris 2024 and the redemption in the 5,000, with a second Olympic gold which gave luster to a great season, with a world record included in the 3,000 meters.
The Norwegian is therefore the favorite to reissue the titles of 2021 and 2022, to which we must add four more in the sub’20 categorybut it will not be easy because the lineup of rivals is very broad.
A powerful Spanish team
Among them are the Spanish, led by Thierry Ndikumwenayorecent winner of the prestigious Itálica International Cross in Seville. The Burundian distance runner is joined by such prestigious names as Adel Mechaal, bronze in 2015 and silver in 2017, and Abdessamad Oukhelfen. The Spanish team is made up of 40 athletes and hopes to shine in a championship that has always been lavish in metals for our interests.
Ingebrigtsen will also have to keep an eye on the Frenchman Yann Schrubwho defends the title, and the Italian Yemaneberhan Crippagold in the half marathon of the European Championship in Rome. In any case, if the Norwegian is fit -has prepared the appointment at the altitude of the Sierra Nevada CAR- It will be difficult for someone to cough on you, especially because The flat course of Dokuma Park in Antalya favors athletes accustomed to the track.
Battocletti wants to make history
In the women’s race, Nadia Battocletti has a date with history because it could be the first athlete to win the title in the sub’20, sub’23 and absolute categories. The Italian would thus crown an exceptional year in which she achieved a 5,000-10,000 double at the European Championship in Rome before winning a historic silver in the 10,000 meters at the Paris Games.
Battocletti already won silver last year in Brussels in her debut in the senior category, far behind -45 seconds- the Norwegian Karoline Grøvdal, who will not be eligible for a fourth consecutive title due to an unspecified illness.
The Nordic distance runner aspired in Antalya to equal the four titles of the Turkish Yasemin Can, who holds the women’s championship recordfar behind the eight crowns of the Ukrainian Serhiy Lebid among men. Can, of Kenyan origin, has barely competed in the last two years because of what he is impossible to predict if he represents a real threat to Battocletti this Sunday.
The other athlete who can dispute the supremacy of the transalpina is the German Konstanze Klosterhalfen although more for his history than for his current moment of form. Not in vain, he stayed more than a minute from Battocletti in the recent Alcobendas International Crossin which the favorite this Sunday gave an exhibition.
