Teja Belak
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Teja Belak (born 22 April 1994) is a Slovenian artistic gymnast who represented Slovenia at the 2016 Olympic Games. Additionally she is the 2019 European Games champion on vault. She primarily competes on the FIG World Cup circuit.


Early life

Belak was born 22 April 1994 in
Ljubljana {{Infobox settlement , name = Ljubljana , official_name = , settlement_type = Capital city , image_skyline = {{multiple image , border = infobox , perrow = 1/2/2/1 , total_widt ...
. She lived across the street from a gym and took up the sport when she was six years old.


Gymnastics career


2010–12

Belak turned senior in 2010; as a result she started competing on the FIG World Cup circuit primarily as a vault specialist. She made her senior debut at the Cottbus World Cup where she finished sixth. She next competed in
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where she finished fifth. She made her first podium by winning gold at the
Maribor Maribor ( , , ; also known by other #Name, historical names) is the List of cities and towns in Slovenia, second-largest city in Slovenia and the largest city of the traditional region of Styria (Slovenia), Lower Styria. It is the seat of the ...
World Cup held in her home country of
Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...
. Next she competed at the Moscow World Cup where she finished sixth. In October Belak competed at the
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World Cup where she finished fourth. The following month she competed in
Osijek Osijek () is the fourth-largest city in Croatia, with a population of 96,848 in 2021. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the administrative centre of Osijek-Baranja ...
where she finished seventh. She ended the season competing in
Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...
but she failed to qualify to the vault final when she finished 13th in qualification. In 2011, Belak did not compete for the first half of the year. She returned to competition in September at the
Maribor World Cup Maribor ( , , ; also known by other historical names) is the second-largest city in Slovenia and the largest city of the traditional region of Lower Styria. It is the seat of the Urban Municipality of Maribor and the Drava statistical region ...
where she placed second on vault behind Valeria Maksyuta of Israel. She next competed at the
Osijek Osijek () is the fourth-largest city in Croatia, with a population of 96,848 in 2021. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the administrative centre of Osijek-Baranja ...
World Cup where she placed sixth. She ended the season competing at the Ostrava World Cup where she once again won silver behind Maksyuta. In 2012, Belak made her debut at the Doha World Cup where she won bronze on vault behind Giulia Steingruber of Switzerland and Nadine Jarosch of Germany. Next she competed at the Osijek Grand Prix where she failed to qualify to the vault final but placed fourth on balance beam. In May Belak competed at the 2012 European Championships where she finished 11th on vault during qualifications and was the third reserve for the final. In June she competed at the Maribor World Cup she won her second World Cup gold medal on vault and additionally won bronze on the balance beam. At the
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World Cup she finished seventh on vault. In November, Belak competed at the Ostrava World Cup where she finished eighth on vault.


2013–14

2013 was a breakout year for Belak as she competed in numerous high-profile international events beyond the World Cup series. In March she competed at the World Cups in Cottbus and Doha, placing fifth on vault and sixth on balance beam in Doha. In April Belak competed at the 2013 European Championships where she qualified to the vault final and finished in fourth place, finishing .300 points behind the two silver medalists Larisa Iordache and Noël van Klaveren. The following week she competed at the Ljubljana World Cup in her hometown; she finished eighth on both vault and balance beam. In June Belak competed at the
2013 Mediterranean Games The 2013 Mediterranean Games (), officially known as the XVII Mediterranean Games () and commonly known as Mersin 2013, was an international multi-sport event held from 20 to 30 June 2013 in Mersin, Turkey. Mersin was announced as the host cit ...
in
Mersin Mersin () is a large city and port on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast of Mediterranean Region, Turkey, southern Turkey. It is the provincial capital of the Mersin Province (formerly İçel). It is made up of four district governorates ...
. Although she qualified to the vault final in second place, she ended up placing sixth. Additionally she helped Slovenia finish sixth as a team. The following month she competed at the
Summer Universiade The FISU World University Games, formerly the Universiade, is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The former name is a portmanteau of the words "Universi ...
where she finished seventh on vault and helped Slovenia finish 11th as a team. In October Belak represented Slovenia at the World Championships in
Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...
. During qualifications she finished 11th on vault and was the third reserve for the vault final. Belak began the 2014 season competing at the Cottbus World Cup. During qualifications she finished 18th on vault and 9th on balance beam. Next she competed at the Doha World Cup where she won silver on vault behind Larisa Iordache. The following month she competed at the Osijek World Cup where she won the bronze on vault. Belak next competed at the
European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...
. During qualifications she placed 15th on vault and 35th on balance beam and therefore did not qualify for any event finals. She ended the season competing at the Anadia World Cup where she won gold on vault and silver on balance beam.


2015

Belak began the season competing at the Cottbus World Cup where she won the bronze medal on vault behind
Oksana Chusovitina Oksana Aleksandrovna Chusovitina (; born 19 June 1975) is an Uzbekistani gymnastics, artistic gymnast who previously represented the Soviet Union and Germany. Chusovitina's career as an elite gymnast has spanned more than three decades. She wo ...
and compatriot Tjaša Kysselef. Additionally she finished eighth on uneven bars. The following week she competed in Doha where she once again won the bronze medal on vault. Continuing on the series she next competed in her hometown of
Ljubljana {{Infobox settlement , name = Ljubljana , official_name = , settlement_type = Capital city , image_skyline = {{multiple image , border = infobox , perrow = 1/2/2/1 , total_widt ...
where she won the silver medal on vault behind Chusovitina. Belak competed at the
European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...
where she qualified to the vault final in seventh place and placed 32nd on uneven bars. During event finals she finished eighth on vault. After the European Championships Belak continued competing at the World Cup series. She won the silver medal on vault at the Varna World Cup, once again behind Chusovitina. Afterwards she competed in Anadia where she placed sixth on vault and eighth on uneven bars. In September she competed at the Osijek World Cup where she finished eighth on both vault and uneven bars. Later that month she competed at the Hungarian Grand Prix where she finished second in the all-around. As for event finals she won silver on vault behind Boglárka Dévai, bronze on uneven bars, and placed fifth on balance beam. In October Belak represented Slovenia at the World Championships in
Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
. She placed 58th in the all-around during qualifications and 15th on vault; she did not qualify for any individual event finals.


2016

Belak began the season competing at the Doha World Cup where she won silver on vault behind Giulia Steingruber. She next competed in Cottbus where she placed seventh on vault and eighth on balance beam. Next she competed in Ljubljana and won silver on vault, bronze on uneven bars, place fourth on balance beam, and seventh on floor exercise. In April Belak was selected to represent Slovenia at the Olympic Test Event. She finished 52nd in the all-around and qualified as an individual to the 2016 Olympic Games in
Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...
. In May Belak competed at the Varna Challenge Cup where she finished eighth on uneven bars. In June she competed at the
European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...
; she finished sixth on vault. Belak finished the season competing at the 2016 Olympic Games. During qualifications she only competed on vault where she finished 19th and did not qualify to the vault event final.


2017–18

Belak competed at the 2017 World Cups
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and
Doha Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...
, earning bronze on vault at both. In April she competed at the
European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...
where she placed seventh on vault. She spent the remainder of the season competing in the World Cup series, earning bronze medals in
Koper Koper (; ) is the List of cities and towns in Slovenia, fifth-largest city in Slovenia. Located in the Slovenian Istria, Istrian region in the southwestern part of the country, Koper is the main urban center of the Slovene coast. Port of Koper i ...
and Varna and finished eighth in Osijek. Belak began the 2018 season once again competing at the World Cups in Baku and Doha, finishing sixth and eighth on vault respectively. In June Belak competed at the
Mediterranean Games The Mediterranean Games is a multi-sport event organised by the International Committee of Mediterranean Games (CIJM). It is held every four years among athletes from countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea in Africa, Asia and Europe. The fi ...
. She helped Slovenia finish sixth in the team final. Individually she won the bronze medal on vault and placed seventh on balance beam. In August Belak competed at the
European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...
where she finished eighth on vault. In early October she competed at the Leverkusen Cup in Germany where she helped Slovenia win gold as a team; she posted the second highest score on balance beam. Belak was selected to represent Slovenia at the 2018 World Championships in Doha, Qatar. She finished 16th on vault and did not qualify to the event final. Belak ended the season competing at the Cottbus World Cup, which was the first World Cup event to be used to accumulate points towards qualification to the 2020 Olympic Games. While there Belak finished eighth on vault.


2019

Belak began the season competing at the Baku and Doha World Cups but did not qualify for any event finals. In April she competed at the
European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...
and qualified to the vault final in second place. However, during the final she fell on her double twisting yurchenko and finished in eighth place. She next competed at the Osijek and Koper Challenge Cups where she won gold and silver on vault respectively. In June Belak represented Slovenia at the
European Games The European Games is a continental multi-sport event in the Olympic tradition contested by athletes from countries served by national Olympic committees within the European Olympic Committees (EOC), the regional association for such committ ...
. While there she won the gold medal on vault, finishing ahead of Angelina Melnikova of Russia. In August and September Belak competed at the Mersin and Szombathely Challenge Cups, winning gold on vault and silver on balance beam in Mersin and winning silver on both vault and balance beam in Szombathely. In October Belak competed at the World Championships in
Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...
. During qualifications she finished 15th on vault and did not qualify for the event final. The all-around competition was used as Olympic qualification for individuals; Belak placed 144th and did not qualify to the
2020 Olympic Games The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...
. She ended the season competing at the Cottbus World Cup where she finished second on vault behind Yu Linmin of China.


2020–21

Belak competed at the 2020 Melbourne World Cup where she placed seventh on vault. She next competed at the Baku World Cup, qualifying to the vault final in first place. However event finals were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Azerbaijan. The FIG later ruled that the results of qualification would be used for point distribution for Olympic qualification. On May 31, 2021 Belak and her partner, fellow Slovenian gymnast Žiga Šilc, welcomed a son.


2022–24

Belak returned to competition in March where she competed at the 2022 Cairo World Cup, less than a year after giving birth. She was the first reserve on balance beam but received a 0 on her first vault and did not qualify for the final. Belak next competed at the Baku World Cup where she qualified to the vault final in second place. During the event final she won bronze behind
Oksana Chusovitina Oksana Aleksandrovna Chusovitina (; born 19 June 1975) is an Uzbekistani gymnastics, artistic gymnast who previously represented the Soviet Union and Germany. Chusovitina's career as an elite gymnast has spanned more than three decades. She wo ...
and Csenge Bácskay. At the Osijek Challenge Cup she won silver on vault behind Valentina Georgieva. In October Belak won gold on vault at the Mersin Challenge Cup. She ended the season competing at the 2022 World Championships where she finished 15th on vault during qualifications. In the summer of 2023 Belak gave birth to her second child. She intended to compete at the 2024 European Championships less than eight months after giving birth. However she suffered a foot injury which kept her from competing for the rest of the season.


2025

Belak returned to competition in 2025, competing at numerous World Cups. She won gold in Cottbus, sharing a podium with compatriot Tjaša Kysselef and fellow mother
Oksana Chusovitina Oksana Aleksandrovna Chusovitina (; born 19 June 1975) is an Uzbekistani gymnastics, artistic gymnast who previously represented the Soviet Union and Germany. Chusovitina's career as an elite gymnast has spanned more than three decades. She wo ...
. This podium garnered significant media attention due to the fact that the ages of three medallists equalled 110. Additionally she won silver in Baku behind Chusovitina and won another gold in Doha.


Competitive history


References


External links


database.fig-gymnastics.com

Profile
at ''Postanivojak.si''
www.intylgymnast.com

YouTube.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Belak, Teja 1994 births Living people Slovenian female artistic gymnasts Gymnasts from Ljubljana Gymnasts at the 2016 Summer Olympics Gymnasts at the 2019 European Games Olympic gymnasts for Slovenia Mediterranean Games bronze medalists for Slovenia Mediterranean Games medalists in gymnastics Gymnasts at the 2018 Mediterranean Games European Games competitors for Slovenia European Games gold medalists for Slovenia European Games medalists in gymnastics 21st-century Slovenian sportswomen