Konstanze
Klosterhalfen
Germany
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Fitness Training
Date of birth | February 18, 1997 |
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Birthplace | Cologne |
Age | 28 |
Nationality | Germany |
Career start | 2016 |
Disciplines | Running 1.500 m / Running 10.000 m / Running 5000 m / Running 800 m |
Konstanze Klosterhalfen's career is like a film playing in fast forward. The results the young German has achieved in the 1,500m and other distance events since first stepping onto the international stage in 2016 have been remarkable and marked her as an athletics star in the making.
From today's perspective, Konstanze's first ever international event at the age of 18 was the start of an incredible year that included an U20 European Cross-Country title, wins in both the 1,500m and 3,000m at the German Championship, and the provisional highlight of her still young career in the summer – participation in the Games in Rio.
Konstanze has only got better since. She sensationally claimed the silver medal in the 1,500m at the 2017 European Indoor Championships in Belgrade, won further 1,500m gold medals at the U23 European Championships in Poland and has dominated the distance at recent German Championships.
In 2019, Konstanze took her first race win on the IAAF World Indoor Tour, which came in Boston, USA, over 5,000m, and she swiftly followed that up by winning the indoor mile at the NYRR Millrose Games in New York City.
She then took silver at the 2019 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow, UK, over 3,000m. She made another major podium later in the year, with a bronze medal at the World Championships in Doha, Qatar, over 5,000m.
In 2021, Konstanze decided to concentrate on the 10,000m, setting a new national record in her first senior competitive race. Competing over the same distance at the Games in Tokyo, she managed to qualify for the final, where she finished in eighth place.
Skip forward to the 2022 European Championships, and she was competing over both 5,000m and 10,000m again. After a 4th-place finish in the 10k, the shorter distance proved the happier hunting ground as she delighted home support to take the gold. "After those two difficult years, to win a gold medal at European championships on home soil, this is just amazing," she commented. "I have tears of joy. I am on cloud nine. I do not have words to describe my feelings."