She won the pole vault at the 2001 World Youth Championships with a height of 4.00 metres. She reached the final of the event at the 2002 World Junior Championships in Athletics the following year, but managed only eighth place. Success came at the 2003 European Athletics Junior Championships, however, as she took the gold medal with a clearance of 4.15 m. She made her Olympic debut the following year at the 2004 Athens Games and qualified for the final with a vault of 4.40 m, but she did not reach that height in the final round and ended the competition in thirteenth place. She set a world junior record mark in the pole vault in August 2005, clearing 4.48 m in Münster.