Saturday, August 21, 2021
Record in the two-mile race
Klosterhalfen is now Europe’s fastest
Since Konstanze Klosterhalfen has been running, she has pulverized German records. Now the 24-year-old has reached a new level: She is not only Germany’s best, but also Europe’s fastest woman over the two-mile distance.
The German top runner Konstanze Klosterhalfen made a strong performance in the Diamond League over the unusual two-mile distance. After her eighth place over the 10,000 meters at the Olympics, the 24-year-old finished fourth in her “home race” in Eugene / Oregon and beat the previous European best time of the Irish rider Sonia O’Sullivan (9: 19.56) in 9: 18.16 minutes Minutes). The fastest German over the two miles so far was Luminita Zaituc in 9: 47.38 minutes.
The top-class race over the non-Olympic track was won by Francine Niyonsaba from Burundi, who became the second fastest woman over the two miles in 9: 00.75 minutes. She narrowly missed the 14-year-old world record of the Ethiopian Meseret Defar (8: 58.58). There are no official record lists for the 3.2 kilometer long non-Olympic route, as this distance is rarely run internationally.
The Tokyo medalists Letesenbet Gidey from Ethiopia and the Kenyan Hellen Obiri also landed in front of Klosterhalfen, who has lived and trained in Portland / Oregon since 2019. Born in Bonn, she is the German record holder over 3000, 5000 and 10,000 meters.
The middle- and long-distance runner starts for Bayer Leverkusen, but trains in the USA. In 2019 she moved to Portland, where she trained with Pete Julian at the Nike Oregon Project. The training environment is controversial, the former head coach Alberto Salazar was convicted of violating anti-doping regulations and banned for life.
Double Olympic champion Sifan Hassan, who is also part of the Nike Project, won the 5000 meters in Eugene. The Dutch woman won in 14: 24.89 minutes without any effort in front of the competition, but missed the desired world record by 18 seconds. Hassan had triumphed over 10,000 and 5000 meters in Tokyo and won bronze over 1500 meters.
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