Eva Pepelnak is a Slovenian track and field athlete, who competed in the triple jump. She is a European U18 Championships Silver medalist, as well as a four-time national champion (indoor and outdoor). Her personal best in the triple jump is 14.00m, achieved at the Boysen Memorial Oslo on June 28, 2023.
Eva Pepelnak was born on October 4, 2000. She started in athletics as a kid and developed her skills in jumping mostly. Initially started in the long jump, but later turned to the triple jump, where achieved her biggest success.
Eva Pepelnak started her competitive career in 2013, already in the Under-14 events. She won the long jump silver at the Brezice U14 Meeting. In the next season, she competed at the Ptuj Slovenian U18 Championships in the long jump and high jump, but missed the medals, while at the Velenje Slovenian U16 Club Championships, she earned the silver in the triple jump. In the same discipline, she also earned the silver at the Ljubljana Slovenian Junior Club Championships.
In 2015, Eva Pepelnak earned the long jump and triple jump silver medals at the Celje Slovenian U20 Indoor Championships, as well as triple jump gold and long jump silver at the Ptuj Slovenian U18 Championships. Meanwhile, she earned the long jump gold at the Breclav CZE-CRO-HUN-SLO-SVK International U16 Match, but her biggest achievement during the season was the triple jump bronze at the Tbilisi 13th European Youth Olympic Festival.
Eva Pepelnak debuted at the national championships in 2016, competing at the Celje Slovenian Indoor Championships, and finished 5th. She proved to be the best junior jumping athlete in the country after earning the gold at the Ljubljana Slovenian U20 Indoor Championships and the silver at the Ljubljana Slovenian U18 Indoor Championships in the long jump, as well as the gold medals at the Celje Slovenian U20 Club Championships and Maribor Slovenian U18 Championships in the triple jump. During the season she made her biggest achievement so far by earning the triple jump silver at the Tbilisi European U18 Championships. She also competed at the Celje Slovenian Championships in the triple jump but missed the medals.
In 2017, Eva Pepelnak finished 4th in the triple jump at the Celje Slovenian Indoor Championships and earned the silver in the long jump at the Celje Slovenian U20 Indoor Championships. During the outdoor season, she won the silver at the Maribor Slovenian U20 Club Championships and bronze at the Celje Slovenian Club Championships in long jump, while in the triple jump earned the gold medals at the Bressanone BRIXIA Meeting, Miskolc HUN-CZE-SLO-SVK U18 Match, Slovenj Gradec Slovenian U18 Championships, Maribor Slovenian U20 Club Championships, Koper Slovenian U18 Club Championships, and Nova Gorica Slovenian Club Championships. She also competed at the Nairobi IAAF World U18 Championships in the triple jump but finished only 7th missing the podium.
Eva Pepelnak won her first national medal in 2018, winning the triple jump bronze at the Celje Slovenian Indoor Championships. Later she earned the gold at the Ljubljana Slovenian U20 Indoor Championships. During the outdoor season, Eva Pepelnak earned the long jump gold medals at the Ptuj Slovenian Club Championships, Nova Gorica Slovenian U20 Club Championships, and Velenje Slovenian U20 Club Championships, as well as the bronze at the Birmingham ECCC Group A. In the triple jump, the Slovenian athlete earned the gold at the Ljubljana Slovenian U23 Championships, Velenje Slovenian U20 Club Championships, Velenje Slovenian U20 Club Championships, Celje Slovenian U20 Championships, and Nova Gorica Slovenian U20 Club Championships, the silver at the Ljubljana Slovenian Club Championships, and the bronze at the Birmingham ECCC Group A. Meanwhile, she finished 4th in the triple jump at the Tampere IAAF World U20 Championships.
In 2019, Eva Pepelnak won her first national title triumphing with the gold at the Celje Slovenian Championships in the triple jump. In the same discipline, she won the gold at the prestigious Leiria ECCC U20 Group A, as well as the silver at the Memorial Matica Sustersica in Patrika Cvetana and Slovenian Club Championships, but also finished 5th at the Boras European U20 Championships.
In 2020, Eva Pepelnak won the triple and long jump silver medals at the Celje Slovenian Championships, as well as the silver in the triple jump at the Ljubljana Slovenian Cup. The season was shorter due to the coronavirus pandemic which seriously hampered the competitive career of many athletes.
Eva Pepelnak finished 4th in the triple jump, just a step from the honors, at the Tallinn European Athletics U23 Championships in 2021. She also finished 6th at the Smederevo Balkan Championships and earned the silver at the Kranj Slovenian Championships in the same event.
In 2022, Eva Pepelnak earned another national title at the Velenje Slovenian Championships in the triple jump, but also finished 5th at the Oran XIX Mediterranean Games and 6th at the Craiova Balkan Championships. She earned the gold at the 22. Mednarodni Atletski Miting and Celje Slovenian Team Championships.
In 2023, Eva Pepelnak continued dominating the triple jump at the national level, winning the gold at the Velenje Slovenian Championships and Celje Slovenian Indoor Championships. In the same event, she earned the gold at the Belgrade Indoor Meeting and 18. Memorial Matica Sustarsica in Patrika Cvetana, as well as the silver at the Boysen Memorial in Oslo, where set a personal best. Meanwhile, she competed at the Istanbul European Athletics Indoor Championships, Budapest World Athletics Championships, and Kraljevo Balkan Championships, but failed to earn medals.
Eva Pepelnak photos
