Her first international appearances came in 2008 at the age of fifteen. That year she was second in the 800 m and third in the 1500 m at the Balkan Junior Athletics Championships. She established herself as a youth and junior athlete the following year: she was the Balkan junior champion in cross country and both middle-distance events, took bronze in the 1500 m at the 2009 World Youth Championships in Athletics, and was the champion in the 3000 metres at the European Youth Olympic Festival (where she also took 1500 m bronze). Further to this, she was a finalist in the 1500 m and 3000 m at the 2009 European Athletics Junior Championships and came twelfth in the junior section of the 2009 European Cross Country Championships.