Germany’s top runner Konstanze Klosterhalfen travels to Eugene as the bronze medalist at the last World Championships. For her, the venue means that she only has to get in the car for a moment, the 25-year-old has a home game. But even she can’t tell whether she can celebrate a medal again.
Konstanze Klosterhalfen is ready. In the social networks, the running ace presents himself in a good mood before the World Cup over 5000 meters while drinking coffee or the last training sessions. The World Cup third from Doha 2019 does not know how strong she is after her corona disease.
“I’m really looking forward to the World Cup, it feels like a home meeting,” said Klosterhalfen about her club, and her management recently declined interview requests. The 25-year-old, who moved her training focus to Oregon three and a half years ago, should concentrate entirely on Eugene’s twelve and a half laps.
And Klosterhalfen can count on some support in the stands. “My family is coming and friends will be there,” said the super talent: “It takes only 90 minutes to drive to a World Cup, which is wonderful and makes the situation easier – especially now that I’m having a hard time training after the corona infection can assess.”
After all, with their 14:37.94 minutes from Oslo, Klosterhalfen is number ten in the world – but then this darned corona virus slowed them down, and it was not possible to start at the German championships in Berlin. The German record holder decided not to start in Eugene over 10,000 meters. What is it capable of when the heats are due on Thursday night (1:25 a.m. CEST)? Nobody knows. Klosterhalfen is “a bit of a grab bag,” said Jörn Elberding, managing director of your club Bayer Leverkusen.
One should not expect another medal from Klosterhalfen, as in their 2019 coup. The world level on the long stadium distances has risen again after her eighth place at the Olympics over 10,000 meters. Even though defending champion Hellen Obiri from Kenya is concentrating on the 10,000 meters at the World Championships, the competition is huge. There is of course the Dutch Olympic champion Sifan Hassan, 10,000m world champion Letesenbet Gidey or the year’s fastest Ejgayehu Taye (14:12.98/both Ethiopia) – to name just a few. But Klosterhalfen is still in a good mood.
