Since graduating from Stanford University in 2005, Ben Youssef continued to compete for pole vault this time, as a member of the Tunisian national track and field team. In 2007, she reached her breakthrough season by winning gold medals at the Pan Arab Games in Cairo, Egypt, and at the All-Africa Games in Algiers, Algeria, with a height of 3.80 and 3.85 metres, respectively. The following year, Ben Youssef improved her performance at the African Championships in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, when she cleared 4.00 metres to clinch another career gold medal. She also set a national record, and vaulted a personal best of 4.30 metres at an athletics meet in Los Gatos, California, earning her a spot on the Tunisian team for the Olympics.