Nadia Battocletti had just finished her university exams. And then she went and won a world title.
The 25-year-old Italian claimed gold in the women’s 3000m at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Toruń, Poland on Saturday, crossing the line in 8:57.64 with a kick so sharp it even surprised her.
“I didn’t expect this result and this shape,” she said. “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.”
Most people use exam week as an excuse to skip their workouts. Battocletti used it as a warm-up.
The Race Was a Mess. She Won Anyway.
The 3000m final in Toruń was not, to put it politely, a masterclass in clean racing. A sluggish opening kilometre packed the field together, and the elbowing started early.
Then, halfway through, things got properly chaotic. Spain’s Marta García shoved Australia’s Jessica Hull from behind. Hull’s arm swung out and caught defending champion Freweyni Hailu of Ethiopia — who hit the track hard. García was later disqualified for her role in the incident.
Hailu, to her enormous credit, got back up and finished sixth in 9:02.41. But the gap she’d lost was gone for good.
That opened the door for Battocletti, and she wasn’t about to let it close again.
With a kilometre to go, she pushed the pace. Hull held the lead at the bell, with America’s Emily Mackay sitting third. Then Battocletti kicked on the back straight — cleanly, decisively — and nobody could follow. It was the kind of race strategy that separates champions from contenders: stay patient, stay composed, then strike.
“I did a super-fast finish which I didn’t train for,” she said. “It was crazy after a really chaotic race.”
Mackay had just enough left to chase Battocletti home and edge Hull for silver, 8:58.12 to 8:58.18. Three medals separated by less than a second.
A Long Time Coming
Battocletti has been collecting near-misses at the global level for a while now. Paris 2024 Olympic 10,000m silver. A second 10,000m silver and 5000m bronze at last year’s World Championships in Tokyo. Five European titles across track, road, and cross country.
The world gold, though, kept slipping just out of reach. Not anymore.
“After all the mountains of training, it feels crazy to run at this level indoors,” she said. “I usually don’t do a lot of indoor training but I wanted to see what I could do — and I really surprised myself.”
The win also ends a 41-year wait for Italy in this event. The last time an Italian stood on the world indoor podium in the 3000m was 1985, at the very first edition of the championships.
The winning time — 8:57.64 — was the slowest in over 20 years, a fair reflection of how tactical and disrupted the race was. For context, Battocletti ran 8:26.44 just last month in Liévin. The raw speed and running economy are clearly there — this was just a day for survival and smarts over time-chasing.
Hull lines up in Sunday’s 1500m final still chasing more medals. Battocletti, meanwhile, heads into an outdoor season where — based on current form — her rivals have good reason to be worried. She’s already one of the most influential figures in distance running right now, and she’s only 25.
For runners looking to build the kind of speed and endurance that underpins performances like this, track workouts and VO2 max training are the two biggest levers. And if you’re fitting training around demanding life circumstances — exams, fasting, or anything else — Battocletti just proved it’s very much possible.
Full Results: Women’s 3000m — World Athletics Indoor Championships 2026
- Nadia Battocletti (ITA) — 8:57.64 🥇
- Emily Mackay (USA) — 8:58.12 🥈
- Jessica Hull (AUS) — 8:58.18 🥉
- Aleshign Baweke (ETH) — 9:00.26
- Şilan Ayyıldız (TUR) — 9:02.11
- Freweyni Hailu (ETH) — 9:02.41
