Telahun Haile Bekele leads the Campaccio men's 10km (© Sportmedia.es/Campaccio)
Ethiopia’s Telahun Haile Bekele and Italy’s Nadia Battocletti won their races in contrasting styles at the Campaccio, a World Athletics Cross Country Tour Gold meeting, in San Giorgio su Legnano on Monday (6).
While home star Battocletti ran the entire race alone, Bekele had a group of strong contenders for company until he made a decisive move ahead of the final 2km loop. Both athletes achieved back-to-back wins, as Bekele won the 10km and Battocletti the 5km at the BOclassic road race in Bolzano on 31 December.
It was a superb return for Bekele, who was contesting his first cross country race in six years. He was happy to sit back in the pack during the opening stages of the 10km contest but made his presence felt, edging to the front during the first half of the race.
Olympic steeplechase fourth-place finisher Mohamed Amin Jhinaoui of Tunisia slipped in the mud while in third place just before the halfway point and lost ground on Bekele, Kenya’s Matthew Kipkoech Kipruto and Burundi’s Celestin Ndikumana. Bekele and Ndikumana continued to push the pace and broke away over the next kilometre, before the Ethiopian 25-year-old surged again around the 7km mark.
From there Bekele was never challenged. He was four seconds ahead of Ndikumana heading into the final 2km loop, with the pair being chased by Uganda’s 2022 world 5000m bronze medallist Oscar Chelimo who was a further 14 seconds back.
Enjoying his dominant run, Bekele waved to the crowds on his way to the finish line, which he crossed in 31:32. Ndikumana followed him in 31:50, while Chelimo followed his runner-up finish last year with a third place this time, clocking 32:09. Jhinaoui finished fourth in 32:11.
In winning the women’s 6km contest, Olympic 10,000m silver medallist Battocletti became the first Italian winner at Campaccio in 31 years.
Nadia Battocletti wins the Campaccio women's 6km (© Sportmedia.es/Campaccio)
On a wet afternoon, the 24-year-old went straight to the front of the field and had created a seven-second gap by the end of the first of the three 2km laps. Finland’s mountain running specialist Susanna Saapunki and Battocletti’s compatriot Elisa Palmero were locked in battle behind her, with Burundi’s Micheline Niyomahoro a further couple of seconds back.
Battocletti picked up the pace over the next loop and was 28 seconds ahead of Palmero and Saapunki by the 4km mark, and her advantage only grew during the final loop. The multiple European champion went on to cross the finish line in 21:14, with Palmero winning the race for the runner-up spot as she clocked 21:58 to finish eight seconds ahead of Saapunki in third. Niyomahoro was fourth in 22:18.
“Today I felt like I was back to the races I did as a girl, with the rainy and cold weather,” Battocletti told organisers. “This Campaccio, with the changes to the route of this edition, was even more technical and a higher level of difficulty that made it even more fun. It is an honour to have won this wonderful race, last year I was very close.”
Leading results
Women
1 Nadia Battocletti (ITA) 21:14
2 Elisa Palmero (ITA) 21:58
3 Susanna Saapunki (FIN) 22:06
4 Micheline Niyomahoro (BDI) 22:18
5 Michela Cesaro (ITA) 22:20
6 Linda Palumbo (ITA) 22:35
7 Adele Roatta (ITA) 22:39
8 Francesca Annoni (ITA) 22:45
9 Licia Ferrari (ITA) 22:57
10 Lucia Arnoldo (ITA) 23:14
Men
1 Telahun Haile Bekele (ETH) 31:32
2 Celestin Ndikumana (BDI) 31:50
3 Oscar Chelimo (UGA) 32:09
4 Mohamed Amin Jhinaoui (TUN) 32:11
5 Maxime Chaumeton (RSA) 32:21
6 Emile Hafashimana (BDI) 32:25
7 Iliass Aouani (ITA) 32:27
8 Luca Alfieri (ITA) 32:40
9 Pasquale Selvarolo (ITA) 32:49
10 Egide Ntakarutimana (BDI) 33:07
