Koster with fourth place in series to World Cup final 5000 meters
Maureen Koster has qualified for the final of the 5000 meters at the World Cup Athletics in Tokyo. The 33-year-old athlete ended in the first of two series as fourth and that classification meant direct passage to the battle for the medals on Saturday.
This summer, Koster sharpened her personal record on the 5000 meters with 11 seconds to 14.33.97 and showed in the Japan National Stadium that it is good with its shape. She did not let herself be fooled by tempo changes and kept an eye on her position. The Kenyan Beatrice Chebet, who won the gold in Tokyo in the 10,000 meters, won the series in 14.45.59. Koster clocked 14.46.57.
Diane van Es was unable to get in the final. The 26-year-old athlete from Rotterdam was not able to join the leading group in the second series and finished fifteenth in the rear in a time of 15.12.57. The Ethiopian Gudaf Tsegay won the second heat in 14.56.46. She finished just before the Kenyan Faith Kipyegon (14.56.71), who previously won the world title in Tokyo for the fourth time in the 1500 meters.
Koster managed to win a medal once in her long career and that was the silver slab on the 3000 meters at the European Indoor European Championship in Prague. She finished twice fourth at the European Athletics Championships. “Taking the final is a party,” said Koster shortly after her race. “The ease with which I made it is surprising to me slightly. I thought I really had to put it seriously.”
“The 5000 meters is sometimes also a mental game and then there are thoughts that you have to push away right away. If you are in shape then you can hide them more easily. I didn’t let the tempo changes go crazy and the hole to the fronts to the fronts were getting close. It actually went perfectly.”