Jolanda Čeplak 
pronounced (help·info) (born Jolanda Steblovnik, September 12, 1976) is a Slovenian middle distance athlete. She was born in Celje and lived in Velenje until moving to Monaco.
[edit] Running career
In her early career, she did not specialise, and ran at many distances. She later settled on the 800 metres where she found relative success on the IAAF Golden League circuit, despite having to compete against Maria de Lurdes Mutola, who went unbeaten at all major championships from 1999 until the 2004 Summer Olympics.
Her most successful season was 2002. On March 2 at the European Indoor Championships in Vienna she beat local favourite Stephanie Graf and set the indoor world record at 1:55.82. In the same year at the European Championships in Munich she became the European champion.
At the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Čeplak finished very strongly in the 800 m but could not quite catch winner Kelly Holmes and finished with exactly the same time as Hasna Benhassi. A photo-finish showed her in third-place, winning the bronze medal.
[edit] PED use and suspension
On 18 June 2007, Čeplak tested positive on erythropoietin. On 26 July, IAAF announced that the B test confirmed the result of the A test.[1] Čeplak said that she has never taken any illegal substances and would try to prove her innocence with all means possible.[2] She received a two-year suspension, and returned to competition in July 2009.[3]
[edit] Personal life
After a divorce from Aleš Čeplak in 2007, she married a triple jumper Andrej Batagelj from Nova Gorica in 2009. They live in Celje.
[edit] Major achievements
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
| Persondata |
| Name |
Ceplak, Jolanda |
| Alternative names |
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| Short description |
Athletics (sport) competitor |
| Date of birth |
1976-09-12 |
| Place of birth |
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| Date of death |
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| Place of death |
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Slovenia
pronounced (help·info) (born Jolanda Steblovnik, September 12, 1976) is a Slovenian middle distance athlete. She was born in Celje and lived in Velenje until moving to Monaco.
