German middle distance runner Anne Kesselring currently leads the 2011 European 800m rankings after 2:02.44 last month and, at the age of 21, could be a medal contender at the European Athletics U23 Championships this summer.
The 2011 European Athletics U23 Championships will be held in Ostrava, Czech Republic, from 14-17 July.
Her outing at the Oregon Relays two weeks ago slashed her personal best by nearly two second and there is every chance of further improvements this summer.
In addition to the possibility of a medal in Ostrava, Kesselring has now been pencilled in by many US pundits as a medal shot at the prestigious NCAA (American collegiate) Championships, which this year will be held in Des Moines, Iowa, between 8-11 June.
Kesselring finished fifth at the 2007 European Athletics Junior Championships when she was just 17 but with a December birthday she was just too old by a few days to be eligible to compete at the last edition two years ago.
However, at the start of 2010 the Nürnberg native started studying at the University of Oregon in the United States, one of the leading American educational institutions for athletics.
In an article with her local newspaper there The Oregonian, which is linked to here, Kesselring, her coach and her training partners talk about the impact she has had since moving across the Atlantic and her life there.
http://www.oregonlive.com/trackandfield/index.ssf/2011/05/anne_kesselring_is_a_potential.html