Nadia Battocletti wins the European 5000 m; Sarah Healy misses bronze by 0.30
The Italian controlled a slow, tactical final and won in 15:37.84 from Spain's Marta García and her teammate Micol Majori at Alexander Stadium.
Photograph: The women's 5000 m final at the 2022 European Championships in Munich, by Sandro Halank, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsNadia Battocletti won the women's 5000 m at the European Championships in Birmingham on Tuesday in 15:37.84. Marta García of Spain took silver in a season's best 15:39.98 and Micol Majori made it two Italians on the podium with 15:40.65.
The first 3000 m was slow and tactical, the kind of race where position is everything and nobody wants to lead. Ireland's Sarah Healy stayed near the front and covered the moves but kept getting shuffled back in the jostling. When it finally went, it went over the last laps, and Healy's strong last 150 metres brought her to fourth in 15:40.95, 0.30 seconds from a medal. Britain's Hannah Nuttall was fifth in 15:41.27. Healy said afterwards that she had left herself too much to do on the last lap.
Battocletti was never under threat once she took control. She also has the 10,000 m to come on Friday.
Fifteen laps at jogging pace, then a race that lasted 600 metres. Championship running: the time means nothing, the gap means everything.
Sources: Athletics Ireland; Marathon Handbook.
