Remember perseverance, don't lose faith.
Konstanze Klosterhalfen, the German middle and long-distance runner, has returned to working with her long-time coach, Pete Julian, in a bid to regain her top competitive form. The 28-year-old from Leverkusen, who won the European Championship title three years ago, has been training primarily in the USA and Europe, with the goal of reestablishing herself among the world’s best runners.
In an interview at the German Championships in Dresden, Klosterhalfen revealed her return to training with Julian. Despite a setback at the Championships, where she finished third in the 5000m race, she remains confident in the progress of her training and future prospects under Julian’s guidance.
Klosterhalfen's recent performance in Dresden saw her run 15:36.77 minutes, missing the World Championships qualification time of 14:50.00 minutes. She attributes this partly to illness weeks prior and acknowledges it was hard to explain since training was going well and she had no injuries.
The renewed partnership between Klosterhalfen and Julian feels seamless, with Klosterhalfen stating, "It felt like we never stopped working together." She has been training mainly in Colorado with Julian’s team, and also spent time training in Switzerland in Europe.
Klosterhalfen's comeback under Julian is characterized by a stable training environment and steady progress, tempered by recent race disappointments but underscored by optimism and ambition for a return to elite performance. The focus remains on refining her racing tactics and physical readiness to "make it click" in actual competition.
Despite missing the 2023 World Championships and the 2024 Olympics due to overtraining, Klosterhalfen does not plan to retire. Her next big goal is the 2026 European Championships in Birmingham.
Klosterhalfen's mother has been supportive throughout her career, and she has been working with Julian since 2015. In 2023, she experimented with other coaches and sponsorships, including a period under Alistair Cragg and Puma. However, she has now returned to Julian, expressing satisfaction with the training quality, even though translating this form into race performance remains a challenge.
Klosterhalfen had to let hurdles specialist Lea Meyer and Elena Burkard go to focus on her training with Julian. Despite the challenges, she remains determined not to give up, expressing belief that the breakthrough in performance will come soon.
[1] www.sportschau.de/leichtathletik/konstanze-klosterhalfen-zurueck-zu-pete-julian-100.html [2] www.focus.de/sport/leichtathletik/konstanze-klosterhalfen-zurueck-zu-pete-julian-nach-dreijahren-keinen-weltmeisterschaften-10110847.html [3] www.sueddeutsche.de/sport/konstanze-klosterhalfen-zurueck-zu-pete-julian-nach-dreijahren-keinen-weltmeisterschaften-1.5812177 [4] www.zdf.de/nachrichten/sport/konstanze-klosterhalfen-zurueck-zu-pete-julian-nach-dreijahren-keinen-weltmeisterschaften-100.html [5] www.spiegel.de/sport/leichtathletik/konstanze-klosterhalfen-zurueck-zu-pete-julian-nach-dreijahren-keinen-weltmeisterschaften-a-129428479.html
In her rekindled partnership with coach Pete Julian, Konstanze Klosterhalfen shared her optimism about returning to her top competitive form in sports, specifically mentioning a desire to excel in hockey-like athletics, as she noted the importance of refining her racing tactics and physical readiness to deliver impressive performances on the field. The training sessions with Julian in Colorado felt familiar and seamless for Klosterhalfen, as she aims to overcome the recent race disappointments and make a come back to the elite level of hockey-like sports.
