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Kristina Hendel
Kristina Hendel
Kristina Hendel has recently shown an upward trend again after a difficult, almost two-year phase with injuries and illnesses. For the first time since the European Championships in Munich in 2022, she reached the finish line of a marathon race in Houston in January. However, she expected much more than the 2:30:54 hours and eleventh place. While she clearly missed the hoped-for Olympic qualification, the focus should now be on qualifying for the European Championships in June in Rome over the half marathon distance. Six German runners could start here if a team is nominated.
In the first part of her career, Kristina Hendel mainly ran long distances on the track. She later achieved comparatively better performance on the long road distances. In October 2021 she ran her marathon debut in Essen and won unrivaled in 2:27:31. In spring 2022 she increased her half marathon best time in Istanbul to 70:38. A few weeks later she ran a good fifth place at the Hamburg Marathon and improved by two seconds to 2:27:29. Kristina Hendel was part of the German team that won the gold medal in the European Cup (team classification as part of the marathon race) at the European Championships in Munich. She finished 20th in the individual ranking.
Kristina Hendel comes from Croatia and has been eligible to compete for Germany since July 2022. She is married to the marathon runner Sebastian Hendel (best time: 2:10:14), who will also take part in the GENERALI BERLIN HALF MARATHON. They both have a son and live in Reichenbach in Vogtland near Zwickau.