“It’s just a shame that I’ve now taken a big step backward. I have to make up a lot. I hope I can be happy after the free skate, because I work so hard for it.” Loena Hendrickx on her performance in SP at the Europeans
Loena Hendrickx on her short program at the European Championships.
original source: Sporza dd. January 15th, 2026
After the short program at the European Championships, Loena Hendrickx, frustrated by a fall, sits in fifth but remains determined and proud of her resilience. Here’s a translation of her comments posted on Sporza.
After a grueling year and surgery to finally be free of a persistent ankle injury, Loena Hendrickx hoped to gain Olympic confidence at the European Championships. But in her short program, she fell on her first jump. Still, with a score of 63.34, she holds fifth place. “It’s such a shame. I worked so incredibly hard for this,” she said, disappointed.
“I think I just had a bit too much power from the adrenaline. Maybe I should have tried a little less hard, which sounds strange. I’m very angry right now because I worked so hard. I know I can do it.”
Hendrickx was pleased she managed to recover after the fall. “I think I showed I’m mentally strong. I’m proud of the last jump. That was my stumbling block in training. The first jump was just silly.”
Was the pressure too much for Hendrickx? “No, I don’t think so. I just wanted to enjoy it, and I did. I told myself: if something goes wrong, try to enjoy it.”
Still, the 2024 European champion was left somewhat disappointed. “It’s really crap, really frustrating. That never happens in training. I’d rather have fallen on the last jump than the first. That would be more realistic.”
“It’s just very frustrating. Then you have to pull yourself together, and I did. I’m proud of that. I had to shut out everything that went wrong.”
“It’s just a shame that I’ve now taken a big step backward. I have to make up a lot. We’ll see what happens. I’m just trying to enjoy everything I can experience.”
“I hope I can be happy after the free skate, because I work so hard for it. I’m just really proud of myself.”
Related topics: European Championships, Loena Hendrickx
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