Friday 03 September 2021

He recovered well from the suffering of Tokyo
In the end, Klosterhalfen lacked strength

In the end, Constanze Klosteralvin lacks the pace to intervene in the battle to win the Diamond League meet in Brussels. But they are satisfied with the result and time. It shows that he has recovered well from the weakness in Tokyo.

German record holder Konstanze Klosterhalfen finished eighth over the 5,000m at the Diamond League meet in Brussels after a brave performance. On a strong field, the 24-year-old World Cup third-placed stayed on top for a long time and only had to give up two laps before the end. With 14:35.88 minutes she achieved the best season. “It actually felt pretty good, but I still lacked the solidity of the tempo in the back,” said Klosteralfen, whose national record since 2019 is 14:26.76.

In the absence of Dutch Olympic champion Sivan Hassan, who missed the world mileage record in 4:14.74 minutes by a good two seconds, and world record holder Godaf Tsegae of Ethiopia, Francine Niyonsaba of Burundi now beat in 14:25.34 minutes ahead of Ethiopia’s Egegeho Tai ( 14:25.63) and Kenyan world champion Helen Obery (14:26.23).

Last Saturday, Klosterhalfen, who lives and trains in the USA, finished eighth at 3,000m in her first European race since September 2019 in Paris. At the Tokyo Olympics, she finished eighth in the 10,000m after a tough race having previously struggled with protracted injury issues. After the race, she had circulatory problems. She was completely exhausted and shivering from the cold despite the scorching heat, she had just crouched in the mixed area.

On September 12th, it will run at the ISTAF in Berlin at the 1500m in Germany for the first time in 771 days. Olympic long jump champion Malaika Mihambo, runner-up discus Christine Bodens, hurdler Jessa Krause and javelin thrower Johannes Vetter had already given their approval ahead of Klosteralfen.