Battocletti to defend her title at Atapuerca Cross Country 2026

Nadia Battocletti, the reigning champion from the 2025 edition, returns to the XXII Atapuerca International Cross Country to defend her title. The event will take place on 21 and 22 November 2026 on the course at the Centro de Arqueología Experimental de Atapuerca.

The Italian will lead the women’s field alongside Tunisia’s Marwa Bouzayani and Ethiopia’s Asefu Abreha. The competition is a Gold level event on the World Athletics Cross Country Tour and will take place alongside the LX Spanish Cross Country Championships for Clubs.

Battocletti arrives with two world tour titles

The reigning Atapuerca champion has also won the last two overall World Athletics Cross Country Tour titles, in the 2024/25 and 2025/26 seasons.

On the track, Battocletti won silver in the 10,000 metres at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. A year later, at the World Championships in Tokyo, she won another silver over that distance and bronze in the 5,000 metres.

Her 2026 record includes the world indoor 3,000 metres title and a European double, with victories in the 5,000 and 10,000 metres.

Bouzayani and Abreha among the entrants

Marwa Bouzayani, a 3,000 metres steeplechase specialist, finished fourth at the Tokyo 2025 World Championships. In 2026 she claimed her first Diamond League victory and set a Tunisian national record of 8 minutes and 54,32 seconds.

Meanwhile, Asefu Abreha, 20, won African bronze in the 10,000 metres in 2026. The Ethiopian also won the Brașov 10 km, where she set a personal best of 30:16.

Cross country organisation

The event is organised by the Diputación Provincial de Burgos, through the Instituto Provincial para el Deporte y Juventud, alongside the Ayuntamiento de Atapuerca, the Federación de Atletismo de Castilla y León and the Real Federación Española de Atletismo.