Running ace Konstanze Klosterhalfen made a dream debut over the half marathon distance. The Leverkusen native won her first race over 21.0975 kilometers in 1:05:41 hours in Valencia on Sunday, making it the third-best time ever set by a European.
Klosterhalfen was only 23 seconds short of the German record set by Melat Kejeta, who took second place in Gdynia, Poland, at the 2020 Half Marathon World Championships in 1:05:18 hours. Sifan Hassan from the Netherlands holds the European record (1:05:15).
Klosterhalfen had surprisingly won gold over the 5000 m at the European Championships in Munich. She then prepared for her debut in Spain at an altitude training camp in Kenya. “I’m a bit excited, but I’m also happy,” she said beforehand.
The 25-year-old holds the German track records for distances from one mile to 10,000 m. On the road, she rarely took action before she started in Valencia, specifically only three times since 2017: once over the mile, over 5 kilometers and most recently in December 2021 over 10 kilometers in the best time of 31:10 minutes.