Loena Hendrickx: “I expected a bit higher score. Certainly not the highest score of my life, but it was a bit disappointing. But I’m proud to be at the Olympics. I’m glad I could leave the ice with a smile.”
Loena Hendrickx on her performance at the 2026 Olympics.
original source: Sporza dd. 19th February 2026
Loena Hendrickx delivered an impressive Olympic performance in figure skating less than a year after ankle surgery, expressing pride in her journey and uncertainty about her future in the sport. Here’s a translation of her comments posted on Sporza.
With a smile, Loena Hendrickx stepped off the ice. After all her injury troubles – an ankle operation and a bone bruise just before the Games – her performance at the Winter Olympics was a huge boost.
“I’m actually very proud,” Hendrickx said after her free skate. “I know this isn’t the level I can usually show, but I’m really satisfied after such an incredibly difficult preparation.”
In the short program, Hendrickx was still able to hide that she wasn’t skating at her highest level, but it had been a long time since she performed a free skate. “It was very nerve-wracking.”
Still, the judges did not reward her efforts. “I think I was scored low,” Hendrickx said. “I expected a bit more than at the European Championships. Certainly not the highest score of my life, but it was a bit disappointing.”
“It was the same score as at the European Championships. There, I felt completely different and really not satisfied. Here, I felt fulfilled and better than at the Europeans. The points were a bit disappointing; the judges were strict.”
“But I’m proud to be here. I’m glad I could leave the ice with a smile.”
Hendrickx lost some points because a planned triple jump became a single. “That was the jump with which I injured my ankle just before the Games. I did it for the first time again in training yesterday, but today it didn’t work out.”
At 26, Hendrickx feels that figure skating is becoming more demanding. “When I was 20, everything came naturally,” she laughed. “Age really makes a difference.”
Was it all worth the sacrifices? “Definitely. I’m an athlete, so the downs are part of it. In two days, it will be exactly a year since I had major surgery.”
“To have to get ready so quickly to secure an Olympic ticket was already crazy. To be here now is doubly crazy.”
And the big question: is this the end for Loena Hendrickx? “I want to let this accomplishment sink in first and see how my body feels. Then we’ll see what the future brings.”
Related topics: Loena Hendrickx, Olympic Games
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