Jolanda Čeplak

From junior racing to the Vienna world record

Jolanda Čeplak is a Slovenian middle-distance runner who won the European 800m title indoors and outdoors in 2002. She had already won European junior bronze over 1500m under her maiden name, Steblovnik, and placed fourth over 800m at the 2000 European Indoor Championships. In Vienna on 3 March 2002 she led much of the final, lost the lead and fought back to win in 1:55.82. Three hundredths of a second separated first and second. The world indoor record stood until 19 February 2026, when Keely Hodgkinson ran 1:54.87 in Liévin.

European titles and an Olympic medal

Outdoors, Čeplak ran 1:55.19 in Heusden-Zolder in July 2002 and won European gold in Munich the following month. She also won over 1500m at the 2003 Prefontaine Classic in 4:02.44. Her 2004 season brought world indoor 800m silver in Budapest and Olympic bronze in Athens. In the Olympic final she ran 1:56.43, the same published time as the silver medallist. In March 2007 she took European indoor bronze in Birmingham.

The federation ruling and her return

Later in 2007, an out-of-competition sample collected on 18 June tested positive for recombinant EPO. The Slovenian federation imposed two years of ineligibility, from 25 July 2007 to 24 July 2009, and disqualified her results from 18 June 2007. The IAAF published the decision in 2008. She returned to competition in July 2009 and ran 2:04.49 for 800m at the Daegu pre-championship meeting that September.

Jolanda Čeplak's published record includes performances from 1993 to 2010 in 800m, 1500m, 800m (indoor), 1000m, 3000m (indoor). Selected recorded events include European Junior Championships (1993; source checked); Celje Int. Meeting, Celje (2010; source checked); European Junior Athletics Championships (1995; source checked).