Background
Šutej was born in Ljubljana and began competing in athletics at an early age, practising in a variety of events from the age of seven.
Šutej was born in Ljubljana and began competing in athletics at an early age, practising in a variety of events from the age of seven.
She made her international debut at the 2005 World Youth Championships in Athletics and finished eighth in the pole vault final.
A change of coach at her local club saw the arrival of a pole vault specialist, who encouraged her to focus on vaulting the high Barometer Her first medal came the following year as she was the runner-up behind Zhou Yang with a Slovenian junior record mark of 4.25 m. The next season saw her senior debut at the 2007 European Athletics Indoor Championships, but she did not progress into the final.
She enjoyed success in National Collegiate Athletic Association competition while studying at University of Arkansas, however, and she was the runner-up at the collegiate outdoor championships in 2009.
The 2010 saw her make improvements as she recorded a national indoor record clearance of 4.46 m in February and went on to claim the national title outdoors with a Slovenian record mark of 4.50 m. She was the runner-up in the First League section of the 2010 European Team Championships and came tenth in the final at the 2010 European Athletics Championships.
Her 2011 indoor season saw her undefeated in eight competitions. This was an American collegiate record and as a result Track and Field News chose her as its Collegiate Women"s Indoor Athlete of the Year.