European Cross Country Championships: U23 golds go to Hicks and Battocletti
The Sports Gazette’s James Davis covers all the action from the U23 races at the European Cross Country Championships in Turin.
Charles Hicks and Nadia Battocletti both defended their U23 titles at the European Cross Country Championships, a year after they first won in Dublin.
Both athletes dominated their respective races, Hicks winning the men’s by eight seconds and the women’s going to Battocletti by 13, living up to their nominations as pre-race favourites.
Men’s race
It became evident early on that the men’s U23 race would be a duel between two British athletes, as reigning European U23 champion Hicks (23:40) was challenged by teammate Zakariya Mahamed (23:48).
Valentin Bresc of France won bronze in 23:58, followed home by a tightly packed bunch for the minor places.
Confident early running saw Hicks and Mahamed settled in a lead group that shed athletes each time they tackled the formidable hill in La Mandria Park, Turin.
The pair distanced their final challenger, Frenchman Etienne Daguinos, midway through the fourth lap of six, with NCAA champion Hicks pulling away from his compatriot to take a clear victory.
Speaking after the race, Hicks was overjoyed with his cross country season: “It is unbelievable. It was something I was thinking about coming into this race, the NCAAs – the idea of pulling out both in the same year. It’s unreal!”
Hicks was highly complimentary of his silver medal-winning teammate, saying: “My coach said to push up the hill, as that would help to separate from the pack. I couldn’t separate from Zak, because he is one of the best athletes I have ever raced against.”
Matt Stonier (24:11) completed the British team, finishing just a second and a single position behind France’s third-placed scorer Antoine Senard.
These results ensured that Great Britain and Northern Ireland took home team gold with 11 points from France’s 14, with Ireland well back in third on 29.
Women’s race
Megan Keith had a long duel in the women’s U23 race, eventual champion Battocletti (19:55) beating the Brit (20:08) to the line as the Italian retained the title she won in 2021.
Keith’s countrywoman Alexandra Millard took bronze some way back in 20:27, just ahead of the Netherlands’ Amina Maatoug.
The lead pair proved to be a class apart from the rest of the field, and Keith was pleased with the result, the Edinburgh University athlete only in her first year as an U23 after securing the U20 title at the same event last year.
She said: “I feel stronger than last year, and I’m happy with the way that I handled the 6K.
“Winning wasn’t really the plan this year, unless something bad happened to Nadia. She was always going to be the favourite.”
Battocletti was pleased with her win, after battling both injury and glandular fever over the course of this year, saying: “Even if I didn’t feel at full power, the support of my family and the crowd gave me the power to win, and maybe that was the reason it was not as painful as in the past.”
The team contest was won by the Brits on 10 points, as Grace Carson (20:35) came in as third scorer in fifth place overall, with Italy (31) and France (38) some way back in the other medal spots.
Read more – senior races report: European Cross Country Championships: Ingebrigtsen and Grøvdal double up for Norway
Read more – U20 races report: European Cross Country Championships: Barnicoat and Forero win U20 titles
Read more: European XC Championships another step forward for Tomer Tarragano
