Since winning silver at the IAAF World Junior Championships in Beijing in 2006, Slovenian pole vaulter Tina Sutej has failed to make the podium at a major event. But that could be about to change.
On Sunday, Moscow was the stage for the Russian Winter meet and on an afternoon of six world leading marks, Sutej's was among the most eye-catching.
She finished the day with 4.71m, a performance that saw her break the national record on three occasions as she beat a high-class field.
Sutej, 25, first achieved the leading Slovenian mark with 4.61m, then went over at 4.66m and finished five centimetres higher to beat Russia's Anzhelika Sidorova, second with 4.66m, with Brazil's Fabiana Murer, the 2011 world champion, in third with 4.61m.
The world list shows the superb standard of pole vaulting in Europe with four women sharing top spot with 4.71m, as Sutej joined Germany's Silke Spiegelburg, Jirina Svobodova, of the Czech Republic, and Great Britain's Holly Bleasdale.
It could be some competition between them at the European Athletics Championships in Zurich, as all the above mentioned women represent European countries.
Back in the city where he won the world title last summer, Russia's Aleksandr Menkov also produced a world leading mark in Moscow by opening his long jump season with 8.30m, an impressive way to start as he equalled the meeting record.
His Russian teammate Ivan Ukhov, the Olympic high jump champion, is having quite a winter, too, and he now has the four leading marks of 2014.
Ukhov had led the way with his brilliant 2.41m from Chelyabinsk in the middle of last month and to go alongside a 2.38m, he recorded his second 2.36m of the year to win in Moscow - missing out at 2.40m - as he beat Ukraine's Andriy Protsenko and fellow Russian Danill Tsyplakov, who both ended on 2.28m and were separated by countback.
It was a result that would have been spoken about in Hustopece in the Czech Republic because the day before Russia's Aleksey Dmitrik won the second round of the Jubilee 10th Moravia High Jump tour.
Dmitrik won with 2.32m as he beat Olympic silver medallist Kynard with 2.30m before going close as he attempted a personal best of 2.37m.
But he still has to secure his place in Sopot and as he said: 'I need to win the Russian champs as Ivan Ukhov already has a bye.'
Green Tregaro won the tour but was beaten at this second event as she lost on countback to Russia's Mariya Kuchina, who is top of the world rankings with her 2.00m from Chelyabinsk.
This time 1.97m brought victory with Tregaro losing out after her one miss at 1.91m, with Croatia's Ana Simic producing an indoor personal best of 1.94m for third.
The men's 60m hurdles has France's Pascal Martinot-Lagarde, the bronze medallist from Göteborg, in flying form as he ran a world-leading time of 7.45 in Mondeville to beat American Jeff Porter who was second in 7.46, a personal best.
Martinot-Lagarde had broken his personal best with 7.49 in the heats before going even quicker, while France's double European Champion 100m champion Christophe Lemaitre won the 60m in 6.61 as he beat Great Britain's Richard Kilty who was second in 6.63.
The 37th Almond Blossom Cross Country in Albufeira doubled up as the 51st European Champion Clubs Cup Cross Country and Spain's Atletismo Bikila won the men's event with 22 points from Sport Lisboa Benfica, with 37, and Istanbul BBSK, with 58. Luch Moscow took the women's title with 18 points, ahead of Esercito, of Italy 40, and Atletismu Santutxu with 50.
At the special shot put meeting in Rochlitz on Sunday, Germany's European indoor champion Christina Schwanitz twice improved her world lead and indoor bests with 19.98m and 20.05m while David Storl, the double world champion, won with 21.02m having also triumphed the day before in Karlsruhe with 21.33m.
It was there in Karlsruhe that Sifan Hassan, of the Netherlands, won the 3000m in a world-leading personal best of 8:45.32, while at the same meeting, German's Nadine Hildebrand took the 60m hurdles in 7.91 to top the 2014 rankings for her event.
THE WEEK AHEAD
Thursday - XL-Galan (Stockholm).
Friday - Belarus Indoor Cup (Gomel); Indoor Combined Events (Tallinn).
Saturday - 4th International Sparkasse Vorderpfalz Springermeeting (Ludwigshafen), A.Antipov's Memorial (Baku), ASVO Vinner Indoor Gala (Vienna), Indoor Match (Fin-Nor-Swe-Den-Isl) Tampere, International Indoor (Leipzig), International Meeting High Jump (Armstadt), Meeting National (Val-de-Reuil), Orenburg Mile (Orenburg).
Sunday - ING Eurocross (Diekirch); Flanders Indoor (Gent), Gubernator Prizes (Krasnodar).