After a surprising change
Klosterhalfen wants to attack the world leaders with speed
05/04/2023, 07:40 am
Completely unexpectedly, Germany’s running wonder Konstanze Klosterhalfen changed suppliers and trainers a few weeks ago. The reasons are still unclear. In an interview, the 26-year-old talks about what she wants to work on more in the future.
5000-meter European champion Konstanze Klosterhalfen wants to pick up speed after her change of sponsor and coach and attack in the world class. “One adjustment is to work on your speed again, especially over the 1500 meters,” said the 26-year-old from Leverkusen to the “Munich Merkur/tz” media group. “I’ve lost sight of them a bit lately, also due to an injury. But the speed over the 1500 meters is really good for me over the 5000 meters as well.”
Klosterhalfen will start the outdoor season over 1500 meters at the Diamond League Meeting in Doha on Friday. After that, she moves back to a training camp to work on the basics. In the USA she had recently run races over 800 and 1500 meters. “It’s been fun to be back on the track and I’m looking forward to the upcoming season,” she said. The highlight in the summer is the World Championships in Budapest (17th to 29th August).
The 2019 World Cup bronze medalist surprisingly left her long-term sponsor Nike a few weeks ago and switched to the German sporting goods manufacturer Puma. At the same time, she is now training with Irishman Alistair Cragg, who works for a runners’ group of her new outfitter in North Carolina/USA. The background to the change is not yet known. Klosterhalfen moved to the USA at the end of 2018 to train under Pete Julian, the American had led Klosterhalfen to the top of the world. Her affiliation with the Nike Oregon project, which was disbanded in 2019 after a four-year ban against top coach Alberto Salazar for doping offenses, had often made headlines.
The long-distance runner, who holds several German records between 1500 and 10,000 meters, finished third in the 2019 World Cup in Doha and last year won European Championship gold over 5000 meters in Munich.