Tina Šutej

Tina Šutej
	Šutej at the Union Leichtathletik Gala in Linz in 2017
Personal information
Nationality	Slovenian
Born	7 November 1988 (age 35); Ljubljana, SR Slovenia, SFR Yugoslavia
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Weight	59 kg (130 lb)
Sport
Country	Slovenia
Sport	Athletics
Event	Pole vault
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	4.76 m outdoors (Ljubljana 2021); 4.82 m indoors (Ostrava 2023)
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing Slovenia
World Indoor Championships
European Championships
European Indoor Championships
European Games
Universiade
World Junior Championships
Mediterranean Games

Tina Šutej (born 7 November 1988) is a Slovenian pole vaulter. She won bronze medals at the 2022 World Indoor Championships and 2022 European Championships. Šutej earned a silver at the 2021 European Indoor Championships and again in 2023.

She took silver at the 2006 World Junior Championships. Šutej is the Slovenian record holder both in and outdoors.

Career

Šutej was born in Ljubljana and began competing in athletics at an early age, practising in a variety of events from the age of seven. A change of coach at her local club saw the arrival of a pole vault specialist, who encouraged her to focus on vaulting the high bar.^[1] She made her international debut at the 2005 World Youth Championships in Athletics and finished eighth in the pole vault final. Her first medal came the following year as she was the runner-up behind Zhou Yang with a Slovenian junior record mark of 4.25 m.^[2]

The next season saw her senior debut at the 2007 European Athletics Indoor Championships, but she did not progress into the final. Although she won an indoor and outdoor title nationally,^[2] she made little progress in her performances in the 2008 and 2009 seasons, in which a fifth place at the 2009 European Athletics U23 Championships was her international highlight.^[3] She enjoyed success in NCAA competition while studying at University of Arkansas, however, and she was the runner-up at the collegiate outdoor championships in 2009.^[4]

The 2010 saw her make improvements as she recorded a national indoor record clearance of 4.46 m in February and went on to claim the national title outdoors with a Slovenian record mark of 4.50 m.^[5] She was the runner-up in the First League section of the 2010 European Team Championships and came tenth in the final at the 2010 European Athletics Championships.^[2] Her 2011 indoor season saw her undefeated in eight competitions. She won at the 2011 NCAA Women's Indoor Track and Field Championship, having improved her best to 4.54 m in the weeks prior to the event.^[6] This was an American collegiate record and as a result Track and Field News chose her as its Collegiate Women's Indoor Athlete of the Year.^[1] She continued her form into the outdoor season, breaking the outdoor collegiate record and Slovenian mark with a clearance of 4.61 m to win the Southeastern Conference (SEC) title.^[7]

She competed at the 2011 World Championships and 2012 London Olympics without reaching the final, before reaching the final of the 2014 World Indoor Championship.^[2] She competed at the World Championship in 2015, 2017 and 2019 and was a finalist at the 2016 Rio Olympics.^[2]

After seven years of no improvement, Šutej produced her finest season in 2019, equalling or improving her national record on five occasions, topped by a 4.73 m clearance in Velenje, Slovenia, on 15 September before capping her season at the World Championships where she reached the final.^[2]

She improved the national indoor record to 4.74 m indoors and 4.75 m outdoors in 2020. The following year, she tied for fifth at the postponed Tokyo Olympic Games and later improved her national record to 4.76 m in Ljubljana on 16 September.^[2]

On 2 February 2023, Šutej set the 30th Slovenian record of her career when clearing 4.82 m for a win at the Czech Indoor Gala held in Ostrava.^[8]

International competitions

Representing Slovenia
Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Result
2006	World Junior Championships	Beijing, China	2nd	4.25 m
2007	European Indoor Championships	Birmingham, United Kingdom	18th (q)	4.05 m
2009	Mediterranean Games	Pescara, Italy	4th	4.20 m
	Universiade	Belgrade, Serbia	7th	4.25 m
	European U23 Championships	Kaunas, Lithuania	5th	4.25 m
2010	European Championships	Barcelona, Spain	10th	4.35 m
2011	Universiade	Shenzhen, China	2nd	4.55 m
2011	World Championships	Daegu, South Korea	21st (q)	4.40 m
2012	European Championships	Helsinki, Finland	24th (q)	4.15 m
2012	Olympic Games	London, United Kingdom	19th (q)	4.25 m
2013	Mediterranean Games	Mersin, Turkey	5th	4.30 m
2014	World Indoor Championships	Sopot, Poland	10th	4.55 m
2014	European Championships	Zürich, Switzerland	10th	4.35 m
2015	European Indoor Championships	Prague, Czech Republic	10th (q)	4.55 m
2015	World Championships	Beijing, China	—	NM
2016	European Championships	Amsterdam, Netherlands	9th (q)	4.45 m¹
2016	Olympic Games	Rio de Janeiro, Brasil	11th	4.50 m
2017	European Indoor Championships	Belgrade, Serbia	8th	4.40 m
2017	World Championships	London, United Kingdom	15th (q)	4.35 m
2018	Mediterranean Games	Tarragona, Spain	2nd	4.41 m
2018	European Championships	Berlin, Germany	25th (q)	4.20 m
2019	European Indoor Championships	Glasgow, United Kingdom	10th (q)	4.50 m
2019	World Championships	Doha, Qatar	13th	4.50 m
2021	European Indoor Championships	Toruń, Poland	2nd	4.70 m
2021	Olympic Games	Tokyo, Japan	5th	4.50 m
2022	World Indoor Championships	Belgrade, Serbia	3rd	4.75 m
	World Championships	Eugene, United States	4th	4.70 m
	European Championships	Munich, Germany	3rd	4.75 m
2023	European Indoor Championships	Istanbul, Turkey	2nd	4.75 m
2023	World Championships	Budapest, Hungary	4th	4.80 m
2024	European Championships	Rome, Italy	–	NM