Emma Zapletalová

Emma Zapletalová (born 24 March 2000) is a Slovak athlete who specializes in 400 metres hurdles and 400 metres, holding the Slovak national record in both events. She is the current European Champion in the 400 metres hurdles. She won the bronze medal in the same discipline at the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo. Previously, Zapletalová held the European U23 Champion title.

Early life Emma Zapletalová was born on 24 March 2000 in Nitra. She grew up playing handball alongside athletics but decided to prioritize athletics at the age of 14.

Career Early career On 15 July 2018 in Tampere, Zapletalová took fifth place in the 400 m hurdles at the World U20 Championships. Afterwards, she had to interrupt her career for several months due to mononucleosis and a stress fracture to her foot. On 2 August 2020, she ran the 400 m hurdles in Budapest in a time of 56.19 seconds, improving her personal best by almost seven tenths and breaking the previous Slovak record. On 30 August in Trnava, Zapletalová improved by exactly one second, setting a new national record of 55.19 seconds.

2021: Olympic Games debut In June 2021, at the FBK Games in Hengelo, Netherlands, she qualified by time for the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the 400 m hurdles, running 55.29 seconds. Zapletalová took almost one second off her previous national record to win the gold medal at the European U23 Championships in July, running a time of 54.28 seconds. She was a semi-finalist in the 400 m hurdles at the delayed 2020 Olympic Games held in August 2021, and was named Slovak Athlete of the Year 2021.

She competed at the 2022 European Athletics Championships in Munich, Germany in the women's 400 metres hurdles.

2025: World Championships medalist Zapletalová during the 2025 World Athletics Championships 400 m hurdles final. Zapletalová with Femke Broeders-Bol and Jasmine Jones after medalling in the 400 m hurdles final.

After a few years of health problems, she began to be trained by Dutchman Bram Peters in autumn 2024. In 2025, at the Central Slovak Athletics Association championship in Ostrava, she set a Slovak record in the indoor 400 metres with a time of 52.61 seconds.

She was runner-up in the 400 metres hurdles at the 2025 Bislett Games, part of the 2025 Diamond League, on 12 June 2025. On 17 June she broke the Slovak national record for the 400 metres which had stood since 1974. She won the 400 metres at the 2025 European Athletics Team Championships Second Division in Maribor on 28 June and lowered it again, running 50.76 seconds. She placed fourth in Monaco at the 2025 Herculis in the Diamond League in July 2025. She lowered the national record to 54.08 seconds at the 2025 London Athletics Meet.

She lowered her own national record to 53.18 seconds finishing runner-up to Femke Bol at the Diamond League Final in Zurich on 28 August. At the world championships in Tokyo, she won a bronze medal in the 400 metres hurdles in a new Slovak record of 53.00 seconds.

2026: European Champion Zapletalová after winning 400 m hurdles at the 2026 Bislett Games.

Zapletalova opened her 2026 indoor season by breaking her own Slovak indoor 400 m record at the IFAM Indoor Gent in Belgium. With her time of 51.67 seconds, Zapletalova became the first Slovak to break the 52 second-barrier indoors. She lowered it again shortly afterwards, with 51.24 for the 400 metres in Ostrava on 3 February 2026 and then 50.78 in Metz on 8 February. She reached the semi-finals of the 400 m at the 2026 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Poland.

On 31 May, she set a new national record 52.82 seconds to win the 400 metres hurdles at the 2026 Diamond League in Rabat, her first time under 53 seconds. On 4 June, she lowered it again winning in 52.58 seconds at the Diamond League event in Rome. This time made her the 12th fastest 400 m hurdler of all time and 3rd on the European all-time list behind Femke Bol and Yulia Pechonkina.

On 10 and 19 June, she won her third and fourth Diamond League races of the season in Oslo and Doha, with a new national and meeting record of 52.30 seconds for the 400 metres hurdles in Doha. She became 6th fastest 400 m hurdler of all time and 2nd on the European all-time list only behind Femke Bol. While on 16 June at the Ostrava Golden Spike, Zapletalová broke the Slovak 400 m record, placing fourth in a time of 50.59.

On 12 August 2026, Zapletalová won the gold medal at the 2026 European Championships in Birmingham, England, running 52.91 seconds to win ahead of Emily Newnham of Great Britain and Fatoumata Binta Diallo of Portugal in the final. In doing so, she became the first Slovakian in 16 years to win a European title. Zapletalová won her fifth Diamond League 400m hurdles of the year at the 2026 Athletissima in Lausanne on 21 August, running 52.41 seconds for the second-fastest time in the world of the season behind her own world lead set in Doha.

Personal life She studied at the Faculty of Sports Science and Health of Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica.

Personal bests Information based on her World Athletics profile. Event Time (sec) Notes Wind Location Date 200 metres 22.67 Banská Bystrica, Slovakia 25 July 2026 400 metres 50.59 Ostrava, Czech Republic 16 June 2026 400 meters short track 50.78 Metz, France 8 February 2026 300 metres hurdles 38.97 Ostrava, Czech Republic 8 September 2020 400 metres hurdles 52.30 Doha, Qatar 19 June 2026

Achievements 1Did not start in the semifinals

Circuit top results Diamond League meetings 2020 (400 m h): Rome Golden Gala 7th 2021 (400 m h): Gateshead 1 4th, Meeting de Paris 6th 2025 (400 m h): Bislett Games 2nd, Silesia 2nd, Zürich Diamond League Final 2nd 2026 (400 m h): Rabat 1st, Rome Golden Gala 1st, Bislett Games 1st, Doha 1st, Lausanne 1st World Athletics Continental Tour meetings 2020 Gold (400 m h): Gyulai István Memorial 5th, (300 m h): Golden Spike Ostrava 2nd 2021 Gold (400 m h): Golden Spike Ostrava 4th, FBK Games 4th 2021 Silver (400 m h): TIPOS P-T-S Meeting 2nd 2025 Gold (400 m h): FBK Games 3rd 2025 Silver (400 m h): TIPOS P-T-S Meeting 1st 2026 Gold (400 m): Golden Spike Ostrava 4th 2026 Silver (400 m h): TIPOS P-T-S Meeting 1st