Jolanda Čeplak
Jolanda Čeplak, born on September 12, 1976 is a Slovenian middle distance athlete. She was born in Celje and lived in Velenje until briefly moving to Monaco. She has lived in Celje since. Jolanda is mother of two children, twin daughters Zala and Evelin.
Running Career:
In her early career, she did not specialize, and ran at different distances. She later settled on the 800 meters where she was quite successful at the IAAF competitions, despite having to compete against then unbeatable Maria de Lurdes Mutola.
Her most successful season was 2002. On March 2 she won gold medal at the European Indoor Championship in Vienna, where she set a world record with a time of 1:55.82. At the EAA athletic rally at Belgian Heusden Zolder she also achieved the best result of the year and the 13th time in the history of 800m (1:55.19). In the same year at the European Championships in Munich, she became the European Champion.
At the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Jolanda achieved another great success of her carrier. She could not quite catch the winner Kelly Holmes, but finished with exactly the same time as Hasna Benhassi. A photo finish showed her in third-place, winning the bronze Olympic medal.
Jolanda is also more time Slovenian champion and record holder on 800m, 1000m and 1500m indoor. She finished her carrier in 2010.
Since 2008 she has her own athletic school, where she shares her knowledge with young and talented athletes.
