Anita Horvat (born 7 September 1996) is a Slovenian sprinter and middle-distance runner. She placed seventh in the 800 metres at the 2022 World Athletics Championships. Horvat won the silver medal in the event at the 2023 European Indoor Championships and bronze in 2025.
She represented Slovenia in the 400 metres at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. She is the Slovenian record holder for the 400 metres out and indoors, and took 10 individual national titles (mostly for the 400 m).
Career Anita Horvat competed in the women's 400 metres at the 2017 and 2019 World Athletics Championships.
She also represented Slovenia in the event at the postponed 2020 Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
In the 2022 season, Horvat gradually shifted to the 800 metres. In March, she won the 400 m at the Balkan Indoor Championships held in Istanbul. She finished second over the 800 m at the outdoor Balkan Championships in Craiova, Romania in June that year. The following month, she placed second in the 400 m at the Mediterranean Games staged in Oran, Algeria. At the 2022 World Athletics Championships held in Eugene the same July, Horvat for the first time broke the two-minute barrier in the 800 m (1:59.60) in her semifinal and eventually finished seventh in 1:59.83 in the first global individual final of her career. She lowered her personal best to 1:58.96 in August and competed in the event at the European Championships in Munich, where she fell and placed last in her heat.
In January 2023, the 26-year-old won her new specialist event at the Init Indoor Meeting Karlsruhe in Germany, a World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting, beating 2022 world indoor silver medallist Freweyni Hailu. She continued her good form in March, claiming the silver medal in the 800 m at the European Indoor Championships held in Istanbul, her first major individual medal and the biggest success up to that point.
Statistics Personal bests 100 metres – 11.79 (+1.2 m/s, Celje 2017) 200 metres – 23.47 (0.0 m/s, Kranj 2017) 200 metres indoor – 23.10 (Metz 2021) 400 metres – 51.22 (Monaco 2018) 400 metres indoor – 52.22 (Madrid 2018) 600 metres – 1:26.26 (Milan 2023) 800 metres – 1:58.96 (Chorzów 2022) 800 metres indoor – 2:00.35
International competitions 2014European Team Championships First LeagueTallinn, Estonia10th400 m hurdles1:00.8112th4 × 400 m relay3:47.78World Junior ChampionshipsEugene, OR, United States9th (h)4 × 400 m relay3:42.91 2015European Junior ChampionshipsEskilstuna, Sweden7th (h3)400 m56.366th (h4)400 m hurdles1:02.088th4 × 400 m relay3:46.302016Balkan Indoor ChampionshipsIstanbul, Turkey2nd (f2)400 m54.822017European Indoor ChampionshipsBelgrade, Serbia24th (h)400 m54.65European Team Championships Second LeagueTel Aviv, Israel4th400 m52.729th4 × 100 m relay46.392nd4 × 400 m relay3:34.19European U23 ChampionshipsBydgoszcz, Poland4th400 m53.06World ChampionshipsLondon, United Kingdom38th (h)400 m52.782018European ChampionshipsBerlin, Germany14th (sf)400 m51.892019European Indoor ChampionshipsGlasgow, Scotland12th (sf)400 m53.37European GamesMinsk, Belarus11th4 × 400 m mixed3:20.66European Team Championships Second LeagueVaraždin, Croatia2nd400 m52.456th4 × 100 m relay45.151st4 × 400 m relay3:36.71World ChampionshipsDoha, Qatar39th (h)400 m52.73Military World GamesWuhan, China5th (h1)400 m55.512021Balkan Indoor ChampionshipsIstanbul, Turkey1st (f2)400 m53.443rd4 × 400 m relay3:41.50European Indoor ChampionshipsToruń, Poland22nd (h)800 m2:06.08World RelaysChorzów, Poland3rd2×2×400 m mixed3:41.95European Team Championships Second LeagueStara Zagora, Bulgaria3rd400 m52.942nd4 × 100 m relay3:30.90 Balkan ChampionshipsSmederevo, Serbia2nd (f2)400 m52.751st4 × 400 m relay3:33.99Olympic GamesTokyo, Japan28th (h)400 m52.342022Balkan Indoor ChampionshipsIstanbul, Turkey1st400 m52.981st4 × 400 m relay3:37.84World Indoor ChampionshipsBelgrade, Serbia10th (h)4 × 400 m relay3:37.08 Balkan ChampionshipsCraiova, Romania2nd800 m2:02.25Mediterranean GamesOran, Algeria2nd400 m51.94 2nd4 × 400 m relay3:31.51World ChampionshipsEugene, OR, United States33rd (h)400 m52.677th800 m1:59.83European ChampionshipsMunich, Germany30th (h)800 m2:23.7613th (h)4 × 400 m relay3:31.572023European Indoor ChampionshipsIstanbul, Turkey2nd800 m2:00.54World ChampionshipsBudapest, Hungary16th (sf)800 m2:00.542024European ChampionshipsRome, Italy16th (sf)800 m2:04.30Olympic GamesParis, France10th (rep)800 m2:00.562025European Indoor ChampionshipsApeldoorn, Netherlands3rd800 m2:02.52World ChampionshipsTokyo, Japan29th (h)800 m2:00.662026World Indoor ChampionshipsToruń, Poland – (h)800 mDNFEuropean ChampionshipsBirmingham, United Kingdom30th (h)800 m2:03.6816th (h)4 × 400 m relay3:35.82
References
External links
Anita Horvat at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics (archived, alternate link) Anita Horvat at Team Slovenia