Emma Zapletalová

Emma Zapletalová
Emma Zapletalová in 2026
Personal information
Born (2000-03-24) 24 March 2000
Nitra, Slovakia
Height1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight63 kg (139 lb)
Sport
CountrySlovakia
SportAthletics
Events
400m hurdles, 400m
ClubŠK Dukla Banská Bystrica - VŠC Dukla Banská Bystrica[1]
Coached by
Achievements and titles
World finals
  • 2025 Tokyo
  • 400 m hurdles,  Bronze
Highest world ranking
  • No. 1 (400 mH, 2026)
  • No. 14 (overall, 2026)
Personal bests
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing  Slovakia
World Championships
Bronze medal – third place2025 Tokyo400 m hurdles
European Championships
Gold medal – first place2026 Birmingham 400 m hurdles
Diamond League Final
Second place2025 Zurich400 m hurdles
European U23 Championships
Gold medal – first place2021 Tallinn400 m hurdles

Emma Zapletalová (born 24 March 2000)[2] is a Slovak athlete who specializes in 400 metres hurdles and 400 metres, holding the Slovak national record in both events. She is the current European Champion in the 400 metres hurdles. She won the bronze medal in the same discipline at the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo. Previously, Zapletalová held the European U23 Champion title.

Early life

Emma Zapletalová was born on 24 March 2000 in Nitra. She grew up playing handball alongside athletics but decided to prioritize athletics at the age of 14.[3]

Career

Early career

On 15 July 2018 in Tampere, Zapletalová took fifth place in the 400 m hurdles at the World U20 Championships. Afterwards, she had to interrupt her career for several months due to mononucleosis and a stress fracture to her foot.[4][5] On 2 August 2020, she ran the 400 m hurdles in Budapest in a time of 56.19 seconds, improving her personal best by almost seven tenths and breaking the previous Slovak record.[6] On 30 August in Trnava, Zapletalová improved by exactly one second, setting a new national record of 55.19 seconds.[7]

2021: Olympic Games debut

In June 2021, at the FBK Games in Hengelo, Netherlands, she qualified by time for the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the 400m hurdles, running 55.29 seconds.[8] Zapletalová took almost one second off her previous national record to win the gold medal at the European U23 Championships in July, running a time of 54.28 seconds.[9][10] She was a semi-finalist in the 400m hurdles at the delayed 2020 Olympic Games held in August 2021, and was named Slovak Athlete of the Year 2021.[11][12]

She competed at the 2022 European Athletics Championships in Munich, Germany in the women's 400 metres hurdles.[13]

2025: World Championships medalist

Zapletalová during the 2025 World Athletics Championships 400m hurdles final.
Zapletalová with Femke Broeders-Bol and Jasmine Jones after medalling in the 400m hurdles final.

After a few years of health problems, she began to be trained by Dutchman Bram Peters in autumn 2024. In 2025, at the Central Slovak Athletics Association championship in Ostrava, she set a Slovak record in the indoor 400 metres with a time of 52.61 seconds.[14]

She was runner-up in the 400 metres hurdles at the 2025 Bislett Games, part of the 2025 Diamond League, on 12 June 2025.[15] On 17 June she broke the Slovak national record for the 400 metres which had stood since 1974. She won the 400 metres at the 2025 European Athletics Team Championships Second Division in Maribor on 28 June and lowered it again, running 50.76 seconds.[16] She placed fourth in Monaco at the 2025 Herculis in the Diamond League in July 2025.[17] She lowered the national record to 54.08 seconds at the 2025 London Athletics Meet.[18]

She lowered her own national record to 53.18 seconds finishing runner-up to Femke Bol at the Diamond League Final in Zurich on 28 August.[19] At the world championships in Tokyo, she won a bronze medal in the 400 metres hurdles in a new Slovak record of 53.00 seconds.[20][21][22]

2026: European Champion

Zapletalová after winning 400m hurdles at the 2026 Bislett Games.

Zapletalova opened her 2026 indoor season by breaking her own Slovak indoor 400m record at the IFAM Indoor Gent in Belgium. With her time of 51.67 seconds, Zapletalova became the first Slovak to break the 52 second-barrier indoors.[23] She lowered it again shortly afterwards, with 51.24 for the 400 metres in Ostrava on 3 February 2026 and then 50.78 in Metz on 8 February.[24][25] She reached the semi-finals of the 400 m at the 2026 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Poland.[26]

On 31 May, she set a new national record 52.82 seconds to win the 400 metres hurdles at the 2026 Diamond League in Rabat, her first time under 53 seconds. On 4 June, she lowered it again winning in 52.58 seconds at the Diamond League event in Rome.[27][28] This time made her the 12th fastest 400m hurdler of all time and 3rd on the European all-time list behind Femke Bol and Yulia Pechonkina.[29][30]

On 10 and 19 June, she won her third and fourth Diamond League races of the season in Oslo and Doha, with a new national and meeting record of 52.30 seconds for the 400 metres hurdles in Doha.[31] She became 6th fastest 400m hurdler of all time and 2nd on the European all-time list only behind Femke Bol.[32][33] While on 16 June at the Ostrava Golden Spike, Zapletalová broke the Slovak 400m record, placing fourth in a time of 50.59.[34]

On 12 August 2026, Zapletalová won the gold medal at the 2026 European Championships in Birmingham, England, running 52.91 seconds to win ahead of Emily Newnham of Great Britain and Fatoumata Binta Diallo of Portugal in the final.[35][36] In doing so, she became the first Slovakian in 16 years to win a European title.[37] Zapletalová won her fifth Diamond League 400m hurdles of the year at the 2026 Athletissima in Lausanne on 21 August, running 52.41 seconds for the second-fastest time in the world of the season behind her own world lead set in Doha.[38]

Personal life

She studied at the Faculty of Sports Science and Health of Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica.[14] Her current steady partner is a colleague from the Slovak national athletics team Miroslav Úradník.[39]

Personal bests

Information based on her World Athletics profile.[2]

Event Time (sec) Notes Wind Location Date
200 metres 22.67 NR Banská Bystrica, Slovakia 25 July 2026
400 metres 50.59 NR Ostrava, Czech Republic 16 June 2026
400 meters short track 50.78 NR Metz, France 8 February 2026
300 metres hurdles 38.97 NR Ostrava, Czech Republic 8 September 2020
400 metres hurdles 52.30 NR Doha, Qatar 19 June 2026

Achievements

Representing  Slovakia
YearCompetitionVenuePositionEventTimeNotes
2017 European U20 Championships Grosseto, Italy 20th (h) 400 m 55.29
8th 4 × 400 m 3:44.46
2018 World U20 Championships Tampere, Finland 5th 400 m hurdles 57.35
16th (h) 4 × 400 m 3:44.05 NU20R
European Championships Berlin, Germany 8th 4 × 400 m 3:32.22
2021 World Relays Chorzów, Poland 14th (h) 4×400 m mixed 3:19.66 NR
European U23 Championships Tallinn, Estonia 1st 400 m hurdles 54.28 CR NR
Olympic Games Tokyo, Japan 15th (sf) 400 m hurdles 55.79
2022 European Championships Munich, Germany 23rd (h) 400 m hurdles 57.42
2025 World Championships Tokyo, Japan 3rd 400 m hurdles 53.00 NR
2026 World Indoor Championships Toruń, Poland 6th (h) 400 m 51.701
6th 4 × 400 m relay 3:32.77
European Championships Birmingham, UK 1st 400 m hurdles 52.91
9th (sf) 4 × 400 m relay 3:27.02 NR

1Did not start in the semifinals

Circuit top results

References

  1. ↑ "Emma Zapletalová je novou členkou VŠC Dukla Banská Bystrica | Dukla - Vojenské športové centrum". 4 December 2021.
  2. 1 2 "Emma Zapletalová | Profile". worldathletics.org.
  3. ↑ "Emma Zapletalová | Slovenský olympijský tím". www.olympic.sk (in Slovak). 24 March 2000. Retrieved 13 June 2025.
  4. ↑ "Emma Zapletalová". Olympic.sk. 24 March 2000. Retrieved 4 April 2025.
  5. ↑ "IAAF World U20 Championships". World Athletics. 5 July 2018. Retrieved 4 April 2025.
  6. ↑ "God, I'm going to a psychologist. Therapy draws her to Tokyo - Athletics - Sports". 3 August 2020. Archived from the original on 11 June 2021.
  7. ↑ Bogdanyi, Gabriel (31 August 2020). "Steeplechase athlete Emma Zapletalová after the Slovak record: Even 55 seconds is not a barrier for me, I am open to the possibility of tackling it". Atletika.sk (in Slovak). Retrieved 4 April 2025.
  8. ↑ "Apart from Tóth, only she met the limit for the Olympics. A 21-year-old runner can be a big star - Denník N". Archyworldys. 10 June 2021.
  9. ↑ "Skvelý úspech,Zapletalová je majsterkou Európy". 10 July 2021.
  10. ↑ "Slovak hurdler breaks records and wins under-23 European championship". Spectator.sme.sk. 12 July 2021. Retrieved 4 April 2025.
  11. ↑ "Emma Zapletalova - Athlete of the Year" (in Slovak). 5 November 2021. Retrieved 4 April 2025.
  12. ↑ "The XXXII Olympic Games". World Athletics. Retrieved 23 September 2025.
  13. ↑ "European Athletics Championships". 15 August 2022. Retrieved 4 April 2025.
  14. 1 2 "Zapletalová started the season with a Slovak record, Volko also satisfied". Olympic.sk (in Slovak). 26 January 2025. Retrieved 4 April 2025.
  15. ↑ Crumley, Euan (12 June 2025). "RECORD-BREAKING WARHOLM BACK TO HIS BEST". Athletics Weekly. Retrieved 13 June 2025.
  16. ↑ Broadbent, Chris (28 June 2025). "Belgium, Norway and Slovenia sit in promotion places after 2nd Division Day 1 in Maribor". Eurorpean Athletics. Retrieved 28 June 2025.
  17. ↑ "Results - Monaco Diamond League Herculis 2025". Watch Athletics. 11 July 2025. Retrieved 14 July 2025.
  18. ↑ "Results - London Diamond League 2025". Watch Athletics. 19 July 2025. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  19. ↑ "Results - Weltklasse Zurich Diamond League 2025". Watch Athletics. 28 August 2025. Retrieved 29 August 2025.
  20. ↑ "Great success: Zapletalová won bronze at the world championship". TASR. 19 September 2025. Retrieved 19 September 2025.
  21. ↑ "400m Hurdles Women - Final (2025 World Athletics Championships)" (PDF). media.aws.iaaf.org. 19 September 2025. Retrieved 19 September 2025.
  22. ↑ Jeffery, Nicole (19 September 2025). "Bol retains 400m hurdles title in Tokyo with world-leading run". worldathletics.org. Retrieved 19 September 2025.
  23. ↑ Mills, Steven (1 February 2026). "Ogunleye approaches 20 metre-barrier in Nordhausen". European Athletics. Retrieved 2 February 2026.
  24. ↑ "Czech Indoor Gala: World Leads, European Record and Nine Meeting Marks Fall in Sold-Out Ostrava". Watch Athletics. 3 February 2026. Retrieved 4 February 2026.
  25. ↑ "Furlani and Saraboyukov leap 8.39m in Metz, while Schrub and Bol impress on the track". World Athletics. 8 February 2026. Retrieved 8 February 2026.
  26. ↑ "World Athletics Indoor Championships". World Athletics. 20 March 2026. Retrieved 23 March 2026.
  27. ↑ Henderson, Jason (4 June 2026). "CAUDERY, HUNTER BELL AND HODGKINSON SHINE AGAIN IN ROME". Athletics Weekly. Retrieved 4 June 2026.
  28. ↑ "El Bakkali and Kovacs win rematches in Rabat". World Athletics. 31 May 2026. Retrieved 1 June 2026.
  29. ↑ Mills, Steven (4 June 2026). "Third fastest European in history! Zapletalova improves to 52.58 in Rome". European Athletics. Retrieved 4 June 2026.
  30. ↑ "Absolútna fantázia! Emma Zapletalová opäť prekonala rekord a vymazala svetovú elitu". Šport.sk. 4 June 2026. Retrieved 4 June 2026.
  31. ↑ "Zapletalová and Paulino break meeting records in Doha". World Athletics. 19 June 2026. Retrieved 20 June 2026.
  32. ↑ "Lutkenhaus and Cheruiyot win brilliant battles in Oslo". World Athletics. 10 June 2026. Retrieved 10 June 2026.
  33. ↑ "Second fastest European in history! Zapletalova improves to 52.30 in Doha". European Athletics. Retrieved 10 June 2026.
  34. ↑ "On line System Results : Vysledky". results.onlinesystem.cz. Retrieved 17 June 2026.
  35. ↑ "SHOW OF STRENGTH TAKES MATTHEW HUDSON-SMITH TO GOLD". Athletics Weekly. Retrieved 13 August 2026.
  36. ↑ Steven Mills (12 August 2026). "Women's 400m hurdles report - Zapletalová wins historic gold for Slovakia in Birmingham". European Athletics. Retrieved 13 August 2026.
  37. ↑ Mills, Steven (21 August 2026). "Werro holds off Broeders-Bol for 800m victory in Lausanne". European Athletics. Retrieved 22 August 2026.
  38. ↑ "Duplantis clears 6.21m, Karalis 6.16m in historic pole vault contest in Lausanne". World Athletics. 21 August 2026. Retrieved 21 August 2026.
  39. ↑ Fantastická Zapletalová oslavuje bronz a jej priateľ? Už rok sa snaží očistiť svoje meno
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.