National championship: Tina Šutej is the first in Maribor with one jump
Tina Šutej (Kladivar Celje) won the pole vault title on the second day of the national championship in athletics in Maribor, when it was almost completely dark, with a single jump of 4.30 m. Reliable victories were also achieved by Matic Ian Guček (Kladivar) in the 400 m hurdles and, after Friday’s celebration in the discus throw, in the shot put Kristjan Čeh (Ptuj).
June 20, 2026, 9:50 p.m
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The promising 16-year-old Živa Remic (Olimpija) won her first member’s outdoor title in the 800 m, while Maruša Mišmaš Zrimšek returned to the national top after injuries and motherhood with a title in the 3000 m.
Zala Istenič (Žak, 23.46) was first in the 200 m with a strong wind in her chest (-1.4 m/s), the athletes also had an even worse wind (-2.1 m/s), where Andrej Skočir (Žak) won with 21.11.
Anže Durjava (Žak) celebrated in the javelin throw with 75.95 m, fourth after injury was world junior Tom Teršek (Triglav) with 69.25 m. Jan Emberšič (Domžale, 72.71 m) and Jakob Urbanč (Brežice, 71.01 m) set personal records in the hammer throw.
“The conditions were really not the best today. Due to the delay and the large number of competitors, I waited almost two hours for my jump. Coach Milan Kranjec and I decided not to take any risks. There would be no light for the national record anyway,” said Šutej, whose next match awaits her at the Diamond League in Paris.
After the first day of the DP was sunny and hot with plenty of top results and the wind was very favorable, a strong storm on Saturday afternoon delayed the start of the match by an hour. It cooled by 15 degrees Celsius to 20 degrees.
“When I was driving from Celje, a storm started, so I changed my plan and the goal was just to win. I went as I had to during the obstacles, I just didn’t have the speed because I didn’t want to go full speed. My main goal remains the EP, where I want to be the best, which is quite a realistic goal. I have a very good season, I got close to the magic limit. I have the fourth result of the season in Europe, five hundredths separates me from third place,” explained Guček.
After falling on Friday in the 400m just before the finish line, Živa Remic celebrated the 800m a few days after dipping under the magical two-minute mark for the first time, running 2:05.95. “The plan was a relaxed rhythm that would suit me without straining. In yesterday’s race, I settled into the rhythm. I still felt the consolidation after running under two minutes a few days ago, when I ran at full speed. A nice start to the season. But every race is a story in itself. I look forward to training hard and competing better,” explained Remic, adding that she is still looking for the way to run the 800 m.
The Czech shot exceeded 17 m with the opening three strokes of the shot, then he did not succeed, but he won the title in this discipline for the first time with 17.57 m ahead of Blaž Zupančič (Žak), who threw 16.62 m. The latter, after the competitive retirement of the Slovenian record holder Miran Vodovnik, was the series champion in the shot put for more than a decade. He beat the Czech in last year’s championship as well.
“I don’t train much anymore, I get up at four in the morning to go to work in Austria, and in addition, my better half and I bought a farm. I could say that I am going the opposite way, like the Czech. He gave up agricultural life for athletics, and I am giving up the latter for agriculture,” explained Zupančič.
Serbian star Ivana Španovič, the owner of 15 awards from major competitions in the long jump, completed the first real competition of the season with 13.49 m in the triple jump. Since her coach was not there, Slovenian record holder Marija Šestak, otherwise employed by the Slovenian federation, helped with advice.
The DP was considered an international league of Telekom Slovenije, the next one will be held on July 1 in Novi Mesto.
