Karoline Bjerkeli Grøvdal of Norway won her long-awaited gold medal at the European Athletics Championships in Roma 2024. After fourteen years and multiple attempts, including a ninth-place finish in the 5000m in Barcelona 2010, bronze in the 10,000m in Amsterdam 2016, and another bronze in the 3000m steeplechase in Berlin 2018, Grøvdal finally secured gold in the half marathon.
In the women’s 5000m race on Friday, she won silver, narrowly beaten by Italy’s Nadia Battocletti. However, in Sunday’s half marathon, Grøvdal dominated, breaking away from Romania’s Joan Chelimo Melly at around 17km and finishing with a championship record of 1:08:09. Melly took silver in 1:08:55, and Britain’s Calli Hauger-Thackery won bronze in 1:08:58.
Great Britain won the team title with strong performances from Hauger-Thackery, Abbie Donnelly (6th), and Clara Evans (9th). Germany secured silver, led by Melat Yisak Kejeta (5th), while Spain took bronze, narrowly edging out France.
