Nicolò Cornali triumphs in the 10.000 meters: qualified for the European Under 23 Championships

Italian Champion Under 23 of the 10.000 meters on track: it is Nicholas Cornali, 22 year old standard-bearer of theReggio Athletics, trained by Vehid Gutic. Cornali is the son of an artist, with his father Yuri, a valid middle-distance runner, and his mother Silvia Riccò, a triathlon champion.

He won in Cosenza with a time of 29'22''06, but what matters…

"Well, yes – Nicolò laughs on the train that takes him back to Reggio – an Italian title also counts a lot, but with this time I qualified for the European under 23s which will be held from 17 to 20 July in Bergen, Norway".

Safe call?

"No, but I have the best under-23 time of the season and someone else could join in. But there aren't that many 10.000m races, so I'm confident."

Did he also establish the staff in Cosenza?

"Yes, clearly in track races and by a few seconds in road races."

Can you tell us about the race?

"Obviously I knew I had to run among the first, so, since I ran the race with seniors, I immediately got to the tail of the best and stayed with them for several laps. Some got lost a bit, I continued at my pace doing a long sprint and I gave the second in my category 9 seconds".

And what will he do now?

"The club championships with Atletica Reggio, to bring home points, then I'll start thinking about the European Championships."

Will you run long trials with the company?

"No, I like the 1500 and the 800, the 25 laps of the 10.000 are a bit boring. Maybe I'll split it and do the 5000."

Are you dedicating yourself full time to running?

"Now yes, I want to have a year focused on middle distance. I am convinced that I can improve, but I have to prove it. At the end of the year I will take stock and think about the future".

Claudio Lavaggi