Konstanze Klosterhalfen

Konstanze Klosterhalfen 27 February 2020 5000m split times

Klosterhalfen ran at the 2019 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow (UK) on 1 March. She finished as the runner-up in the 3000m event. The winner was Laura Muir with 8:30.61, her own time of 8:34.06 placed her second.

As the defending champion, Klosterhalfen placed second in the indoor mile run at the NYRR Millrose Games in New York City on 8 February. The event was won by Elinor Purrier (USA) with a new NACAC record of 4:16.85, the second fastest time ever. Purrier's former personal best was 4:24.88 set in 2019. The world record holder is Genzebe Dibaba with 4:13.31 set in 2016. Klosterhalfen finished in 4:17.26, an almost 3 second improvement on her personal best and a new national record, the fourth fastest time ever. She also bettered her 1500m time en route with 3:59.87, another new national record. Third placed finisher was Jemma Reekie (UK) with 4:17.88, a new national record and the 5th fastest time ever. Gabriela DeBues-Stafford finished fourth in 4:19.73, a new national record and the eighth place on the all-time list. The first four placed women also set new 1500m national records en route.

Since fall 2018, Klosterhalfen lives and trains in Portland, OR (USA), and became a member of the Nike Oregon Project (NOP) in April 2019. The contact to the NOP was made via sports manager Oliver Mintzlaff. She has never been trained by Alberto Salazar, instead she is under the supervision of Pete Julian. She describes her living in Oregon as it's like training camp every day. According to her, the training is more intense, with more structure.

At the 2018 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Birmingham on 1 March, Klosterhalfen placed 7th in the 3000m final with a time of 8:51.79.

The 2018 European Athletics Championships were held in Berlin (Germany), from 6–12 August. Klosterhalfen finished 4th in the 5000m final on 12 August. With her time of 15:03.73, she missed the podium by 6.10 seconds. The victory went to Sifan Hassan with 14:46.12.

In 2017, Klosterhalfen became the youngest female runner to cover the 800m in less than 2 minutes, the 1500m in less than 4 minutes and the 5000m in less than 15 minutes. She is the current German national record holder for 1500 metres (indoor), one mile (in- and outdoor), 3000 metres (in- and outdoor) and 5000 metres (in- and outdoor).

Klosterhalfen's first major senior medal came at the 2017 European Athletics Indoor Championships on 4 March, when she came second to Laura Muir to claim silver in the 1500m.

Klosterhalfen went to the 2017 IAAF World Championships in London (UK), from 4–13 August. In the 1500m heats, she ranked 10th out of 44 starters with 4:03.60. In the semi-finals she ran a time of 4:06.58, the 16th best among 24 starters, and failed to move to the final.

At the 2016 Summer Olympics, Klosterhalfen competed against a field of 41 starters in the 1500m. In her heat, she placed 6th out of 14. Each two semi-finals had 12 runners, she placed 10th in her semi-final. Faith Chepngetich Kipyegon (Kenya) became the 1500m Olympic champion in a time of 4:08.92, Genzebe Dibaba (Ethiopia) achieved a silver medal with 4:10.27, and Jenny Simpson (USA) ranked third for a bronze medal in 4:10.53.

On 27 February, Klosterhalfen set a European record in the indoor 5000m event. The former area record was 14:47.35 set by Gabriela Szabo (Romania) in 1999. Klosterhalfen won the competition at the Boston University Last Chance Invitational meet in 14:30.79 which placed her 4th in the all time ranking. The world record in this event was set by Genzebe Dibaba with 14:18.86 in Stockholm (Sweden) on 19 February 2015. Klosterhalfen's winning time marks a 45 seconds improvement on her previous personal best 15:15.80 set in 2019 in Boston. Her final 200m split was recorded with 31.6 seconds, Vanessa Fraser from the U.S. became the runner-up with 14:48.51 (new personal best), her compatriot Emily Infeld ran to third place in 14:51.91 (new personal best). Fraser ran the second fastest NACAC time. In comparison to Fraser's performance, the NACAC area record is held by Shalane Flanagan (USA) with 14:47.62 set in Boston in 2009.

Klosterhalfen went to the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics staged in Nanjing (China), from 16–28 August. She ran the 1500m in a field of 20 competitors. In the final, she placed 4th out of 10 with a time of 4:21.02. The winner became Kokebe Tesfaye (Ethiopia) with 4:15.38.

On 21–22 February, the German national indoor Championships took place in Karlsruhe. The 1500m run was won by Maren Kock in 4:13.72 (new personal best), Klosterhalfen placed second with 4:15.25, a new European U20 record.

Klosterhalfen went to the European U20 Championships in Eskilstuna (Sweden), from 16–19 July. In the 1500m race, she received a bronze medal with 4:20.84, Bobby Clay (UK) won in 4:17.91, and Amy Griffiths (UK) placed second with 4:20.41.

Klosterhalfen went to the European U23 Championships in Bydgoszcz, from 13–16 July. She won the 1500m final in 4:10.30, silver medalist Sofia Ennaoui and Martyna Galant (both Poland) completed the podium.

On 18 August, Klosterhalfen beat the existing German national record for the mile run, in windy conditions. At the Diamond League meet Müller Grand Prix Birmingham in Birmingham, she placed first in the 1 Mile Women – Millicent Fawcet run with 4:21.11, 0.48 seconds faster than the former record, held by Ulrike Bruns (East Germany), from 1985. With this time, she improved on her personal best by just over 3 seconds, and claimed her first victory in the IAAF Diamond League. She defeated second-place finisher Gabriela DeBues-Stafford (Canada) with an advantage of 1.36 seconds.

Konstanze "Koko" Klosterhalfen (born 18 February 1997) is a German athlete who competes in middle-distance running and the 5000 metres. She is the 2019 IAAF World Championship bronze medalist in the 5000m event. In February 2020, she set a European record in the indoor 5000m with 14:30.79, the fourth fastest time ever.

Konstanze Klosterhalfen was born to Bernd and Brigitta Klosterhalfen. She grew up in Königswinter-Bockeroth, her father is a lawyer and her mother a teacher. Her brothers are Nikolas (b. 1995) and Leonard (b. 1998). The older brother was also a talented runner but decided for association football. In 2009, “Niko” ran the 1000 metres in 2:50.37 minutes. The year before, he set the second fastest time (2:54.67) in the German U14 division. “Leo” plays handball at a high amateur level.

Klosterhalfen set a national U20 record at a 10k run in Leverkusen (Germany) on 6 March. Her winning time of 32:24 minutes broke the record formerly held by Anke Schäning (East Germany), who ran 33:03 minutes in 1990. Moreover, her time was faster than the national track 10,000m U20 record of 32:44.52 by Schäning.