World 5000m bronze medallist Konstanze Klosterhalfen decimated the European indoor 5000m record at the BU Last Chance Invitational in Boston on Thursday (27) evening.
The German sliced 17 seconds from Romanian Gabriela Szabo’s long-standing mark of 14:47.35, moving to fourth on the world all-time list with 14:30.79. Only the acclaimed Ethiopian trio of Genzebe Dibaba (14:18.86), Meseret Defar (14:24.37) and Tirunesh Dibaba (14:27.42) have run faster indoors for 5000m.
Klosterhalfen was comfortably inside Szabo’s European record pace from the gun but a huge last kilometre from the 23-year-old almost took her inside the 14:30-barrier. She closed with a last kilometre of 2:47.30, covering the last four laps in 34.7, 33.7, 33.8 and 31.6.
Her time also handsomely improved Irina Mikitenko’s German indoor record of 14:55.99. This was Klosterhalfen’s third German record of the indoor season after posting 4:17.26 for the mile at the Millrose Games in New York earlier this month, passing through 1500m in 3:59.87 en route.
Klosterhalfen’s 5000m split times
1K 2:57.51 2K 5:54.23 (2:56.72)3K 8:50.04 (2:55.81)
4K 11:43.49 (2:53.45)
5K 14:30.79 (2:47.30)