Double Olympic triathlon medallist Beth Potter finished in the top 15 of the elite women’s 10km field at the first-ever European Running Championships on Sunday.
A sensational new PB at the Pulford 10k last month helped earn her a spot in the British team for the Belgian event.
That was her first road race in four years, but Potter ran over 10,000 metres on the track for Team GB at the Rio Olympics in 2016 before switching to triathlon – and last summer she won an individual bronze and a Mixed Team Relay bronze at Paris 2024.
Triathlon stars to the fore
But starting the new Olympic cycle with a return to her running roots – similar to Britain’s Olympic gold medallist Alex Yee who will make his debut in the London Marathon in a fortnight – Potter lined up in Leuven against Europe’s best.
They were all greeted with a major change in the weather as the heat of Saturday was replaced by wet and overcast conditions.
And in a field of 86 runners, Potter was around 15 seconds off the lead at the halfway mark, clocking 15:47 for the first 5k, exactly the same time as fellow triathlete Leonie Periault of France.
That placed Potter in 12th at that point and the leading Brit, just in front of Verity Ockenden.
Unique hat-trick for Battocletti
But early in the second half of the race was when Italy’s Nadia Battocletti surged clear of her rivals.
Battocletti, the reigning European champion at both cross country and track over 10,000m, was targeting a unique hat-trick of dominance on three different surfaces.
And she never looked like being thwarted as she added the road title to her name with a time of 31:10.
A late surge from Germany’s Eva Dieterich snared her the silver, with Slovenia’s Klara Lukan taking third.
Potter meanwhile would finish just over a minute back in 14th, with a time of 32:16 which was five seconds and two places behind Periault.
Ockenden was the first British woman home in 11th as they finished fifth in the team rankings behind Italy.
Potter, who was runner up last weekend at the Supertri E World Championships to Olympic champion Cassandre Beaugrand, will be back in triathlon action in May at the next WTCS race in Yokohama.
