Slovak hurdler Emma Zapletalova

Emma Zapletalova is Slovak track and field athlete, who competes in 400m hurdles and 400m sprint. She holds the Slovak national record in both events and won 400m hurdles gold at the Tallinn European U23 Athletics Championships in 2021. She is also European Team Championships 1st League gold medalist and multiple national champion.

Emma Zapletalova was born on March 24, 2000, in Nitra, Slovakia. She started in sports at an early age. Initially she played handball alongside athletics but decided to prioritize athletics at the age of 14.

Emma Zapletalova started her competitive career already in 2014, making her debut at Nitra GP Slovakia in 200m and finished 4th. During the season she grabbed her first gold at the Maribor SLO-CZE-CRO-HUN-SVK U16 Match in 300m and the silver in 4x100m relay. Moreover, at the Trnava Slovak U18 Club Championships, she finished first in 200m and second in 100m.

In 2015, Emma Zapletalova continue gaining experience and improving her skills. She won the 300m silver at the Breclav CZE-CRO-HUN-SLO-SVK International U16 Match and the 200m bronze at the Bratislava Slovak U18 Indoor Championships.

Emma Zapletalova won her first junior national honors in 2016, triumphing with the 60m hurdles and 400m silver at the Bratislava Slovak U18 Indoor Championships. She continue the season strongly by winning the 4x100m relay bronze at the Golden Spike Ostrava 2016, 400m silver at the Brno CZE-HUN-SVK-SLO U18 International Match, and 400m hurdles silver at the Nitra Slovak U20 Championships. In June, she made her senior national championships debut, winning the bronze in 200m at the Banska Bystrica Slovak Championships. She qualified for the Tbilisi European U18 Championships, where competed in 400m, 400m hurdles and 1000m medley, but did not overcome the heats in any of the events. At the end of the season, she won the 400m silver at the Leiria ECCC Group B and gold at the Kosice Slovak U18 Club Championships.

In 2017, Emma Zapletalova started the season by winning the 60m hurdles and 300m gold at the Bratislava Olympic Hopes. She won her first senior national title at the Bratislava Slovak Indoor Championships in 400m and 4x200m relay and continue dominating the junior championships in Dubnica nad Váhom and Bratislava. She qualified for the Grosseto European U20 Championships, where finished 8th in the 4x400m relay final. She won the 400m hurdles silver and 200m gold at the Trnava Slovak Club Championships and gold in 100m hurdles, 400m and 800m at the Bratislava Slovak U18 Club Championships.

Emma Zapletalova made her breakthrough in the world athletics in 2018. During the season, she finished 5th in 400m hurdles at the Tampere IAAF World U20 Championships and 8th in 4x400m relay at the Berlin European Athletics Championships. Meanwhile, she won the 400m gold at the Bratislava Slovak Indoor Championships and earned the 400m bronze at the Mannheim Bauhaus Juniorengala.

In 2019, Emma Zapletalova won the 400m silver at the Athletic League in Trnava and 400m hurdles silver at the Nitra Slovak Club Championships. She competed at the Leiria ECCC U20 Group A, winning the gold in 400m hurdles and finished 4th in 200m.

Emma Zapletalova started the 2020 season in the summer, winning the 400m hurdles gold at the Budapest Open and made her debut at the Hungarian Athletics Grand Prix’s Gyulai István Memorial, finishing 5th. She won the national titles in 4x100m relay and 400m hurdles at the Trnava Slovak Championships and earled the 400m hurdles silver at the prestigious 59th Ostrava Golden Spike. She ended the season by competing at the Golden Gala Pietro Mennea in Rome, but finished 7th.

In 2021, Emma Zapletalova was already recognized as one of the top athletes in Europe. She competed at the Chorzow World Athletics Relays in 4x400m relay, but did not overcome the heats. She finished 4th in 400m hurdles at the 60th Ostrava Golden Spike, Muller Grand Prix Gateshead, and FBK Games in Hengelo, before winning the silver at the P-T-S Meeting in Samorín. At the Stara Zagora European Athletics Team Championships Second League she finished 4th in 400m and 3rd in 4x400m relay. Emma Zapletalova won another national title in 400m hurdles at the Trnava Slovak Championships, warming up for the Tallinn European Athletics U23 Championships, where triumphed with the title. She made her Olympics debut at Tokyo Games, but narrowly missed to qualify for the finals in 400m hurdles after finishing 6th in the semi-finals. In August, she made her Diamond League’s debut at the Meeting de Paris, finishing 6th in 400m hurdles. She was named Slovak Athlete of the Year 2021.

Emma Zapletalova missed most of the 2022 season and started in Hungarian Athletics Grand Prix’s Gyulai Istvan Memorial, finishing 8th. She competed at the Munich European Athletics Championships in 400m hurdles, but did not overcome the heats. Emma Zapletalova was out of track and field for the rest of the season and also missed the 2023.

She returned to the competitive athletics in May 2024, finishing 4th in 400m hurdles at the Internationales thallos Laufermeeting in Pliezhausen. By the end of the year she won the gold at the Liese Prokop Memorial in Saint Polten and Banska Bystrica Slovak Athletics League 2nd round.

However, in 2025, Emma Zapletalova returned in form and had fantastic performance. She started the season in 400m, winning the gold at the SsAZ U16 / U18 / Senior Regional Indoor Championships and finishing 5th at the Czech Indoor Gala, before winning the silver at the Slovak Indoor Championships, all held in Ostrava. In May she won the 400m gold at the IFAM Outdoor in Brussels, while in June earned the bronze at the FBK Games in Hengelo. Emma Zapletalova started her participation at the Diamond League at the Oslo Bislett Games, winning the silver. At the Diamond league’s meetings she finished 4th in Monaco and 5th in London, before winning another silver in Silesia. Meanwhile, she triumphed with the 400m hurdles gold at the Atleticageneve – EAP and TIPOS P-T-S Meeting in Banska Bystrica, as well as the 200m gold at the Banska Bystrica Slovak Championships, and 400m gold at the Kriterium SNP.

Emma Zapletalova in numbers

1x European U23 champion
1x European Team 1st League champion
2x Diamond league silver medalist
7x National champion
Personal Best: 53.58 sec (400m hurdles, NR), 50.76 sec (400m, NR), 23.15 sec (200m)

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