Konstanze Klosterhalfen strengthened her reputation as one of the finest young middle distance talents in the world with a decisive victory at the European Athletics Team Championships Super League in Lille Metropole back in June, where her win helped Germany regain their title.
Just a few weeks after going under the four-minute barrier for the 1500m for the first time, running with 3:59.30 at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Rome, Klosterhalfen stamped her authority all over the event again in Lille with a decisive mid-race break which left the rest of the field left chasing second place.
This championship is fundamentally about the team ethos, but her performance in Lille reinforced what a future she has in the sport, having won a 1500m silver medal behind Great Britain’s Laura Muir at the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Belgrade three months earlier.
On a sunny Sunday afternoon in northern France, Klosterhalfen started in the middle of the pack before moving onto the outside with two laps to go. Without a hint of what would come next, Klosterhalfen suddenly stepped on the gas and within an instant, she was gone.
She ran the final 800 metres on her own, stretching away all the time before triumphing in 4:09.57.
The time wasn’t significant, but the manner of her victory was, one of seven victories for Germany over the weekend in Lille as they regained the team title which they had won on home soil in Braunschweig in 2014.
The following month, Klosterhalfen won the European Athletics U23 Championships 1500m gold medal and at the end of the season she reduced her best further to 3:58.92 when winning at the famous ISTAF meeting in Berlin.