Virus hits running ace hard
Klosterhalfen has to bury Olympic hopes
26.06.2024, 15:26
When Team Germany competes in the Olympic Games in Paris, one of Germany’s top athletes will be missing: Konstanze Klosterhalfen. The running ace is suffering from a persistent virus that has already forced her to cancel the European Championships.
Former European athletics champion Konstanze Klosterhalfen no longer has a chance of reaching the Olympic standard and will most likely miss the Summer Games in Paris. The 27-year-old canceled her participation in the German championships from Friday to Sunday in Braunschweig. The German Athletics Association has scheduled the national championships as the last chance to qualify for the Olympics. Based on this, the Olympic Games will take place in a month without the German record holder over 5000 and 10,000 meters.
“I didn’t give up hope until the very end and did everything I could to maintain my chance for the German Championships and at the same time to meet the Olympic standard,” said Klosterhalfen, according to a statement from her club TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen on Wednesday. But she is not yet as far back as she would have liked after her illness. The virus has affected her more than she thought, she said. Because of the illness, she had to cancel her participation in the European Championships in Rome at the beginning of June as defending champion.
“It’s not easy for me at the moment, but I’m still looking forward. I’ll continue to work hard in training, set new goals and am optimistic about an even more exciting late season,” said Klosterhalfen, who is feeling better after her illness. She has also made progress in training recently, but her best performances are probably not yet possible again.
Mini-chance is still possible
She would only have a chance of making it to Paris if there was an exception to the Olympic nomination. She is not in a place for the Summer Games in the world rankings. The 2019 World Championship third-place finisher now has to deal with another difficult year. Last year she missed the German Championships and then the World Championships in Budapest due to a foot injury.
Klosterhalfen herself does not sound as if she is expecting to take part in the Olympics for the third time after 2016 and 2021. “Even though I had set myself completely different goals for the year, I will make the best of it and hopefully be able to show some fast races this year,” said the 5000-meter European champion from Munich 2022.