Editor’s notes: Nadia Battocletti is an athlete who runs cross-country, outdoor track, some limited road racing, and now, Indoor track and field. This year, I ventured to the Madrid Indoor Meeting and was fortunate to interview Nadia and observe her pre-race workout, including some fast 300 meters and 200 meters.
In Madrid, Nadia took second in the 1,500 meters, setting a PB that equalled the 1,500m Italian NR. At Lieven, Nadia set a new PB and Italian NR for the 3,000m.
As a practicing Muslim, Nadia cuts back to one workout a day during Ramadan, a month of fasting and prayer. Nadia had not raced in one month. Well, she did well with that month of contemplation.
Nadia now has her first global medal! Here’s Stuart’s fine piece!
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Nadia Battocletti – an all-round runner
Nadia Battocletti’s surprise victory in the 3000m at the World Indoors showed what a complete runner she is. She was certainly not the favourite to win her first Global title. She was relatively inexperienced running indoors. 3K seemed too short for her. Add to that the challenge, as a practising Moslem that she has just completed her daylight fast during the holy month of Ramadan. Aged 25, she is coached by her Italian father. Her Moroccan-born mother was also a runner. Nadia is an Architecture and Engineering student who fits training into a busy life.
She has had success in cross-country, on the road, and on the track. She was the 2024 and 2025 European Senior Cross Country champion. In 2025, she won the European Road 10k. At the 2024 Olympics, she finished second in the 10,000m and fourth in the 5,000m. At the 2025 World Championships, she took silver in the 10K and bronze in the 5K. In 2024, I was at the Olympic Stadium on two unforgettable nights when Nadia won the European Championship 5k and 10K.
The result in Torun was:
1 Nadia Battocletti 8:57.64
2 Emily Mackay 8:58.12
3 Jessica Hull 8:58.18
The winner said afterwards: “I didn’t expect this result and this shape, I surprised myself, especially because I finished Ramadan just two days ago, and I also recently finished my exams, so it was a difficult time for me. I knew I was in good shape, but I was still surprised when I crossed the finish line. I did a super fast finish, which I didn’t train for – it was crazy after a really chaotic race, a tactical one. After all the mountains of training, it feels crazy to run at this level indoors. I usually don’t do much indoor training, but I wanted to see what I could do indoors, and I really surprised myself. It’s the second gold medal for Italy here after Andy won gold in the triple jump. We have a very good team here, and we expect great results and, of course, medals. I will probably do 5k outdoors, 10k and longer distances. We need to make a minor adjustment to the training plans. I will run 5k at the Golden Gala in Rome, that’s the focus, and, of course, the European Championships. This is going to be a long season with cross country, road races, indoor and outdoor competitions.”
Imagine what she will be able to achieve when running becomes the priority in her life.
September 13, 2025, photo by World Athletics
