Loena Hendrickx (; born 5 November 1999) is a Belgian retired figure skater. She is a two-time World medalist (2022, 2023), the 2024 European champion, a three-time European medalist (2022, 2023, 2026), a two-time ISU Grand Prix Final medalist (2022–23, 2023–24), a two-time Grand Prix gold medalist, and a five-time Belgian national champion (2017–2019, 2022–2023).
Hendrickx has finished within the top ten at five European Championships (2017–2018, 2022–2023) and five World Championships (2018, 2021–2024). She represented Belgium at three Winter Olympics (2018, 2022, 2026) finishing sixteenth, seventh, and fourteenth respectively. The most successful Belgian women's skater in history, she is the first-ever World, European, and Grand Prix medalist from Belgium in that discipline.
Personal life Loena Hendrickx was born on November 5, 1999, in Turnhout, Belgium. She is the younger sister of Belgian figure skater Jorik Hendrickx. She also has two other older brothers, Larris and Rinze, who played hockey.
She has a degree in preschool education.
Career
Early years Hendrickx began learning to skate in 2004. She experienced bullying in school over her figure skating until she transferred to a specialized sports secondary school in Eindhoven. She appeared internationally on the advanced novice level from December 2012 through December 2013 and then moved up to the junior ranks.
2014–2015 season: International junior debut Coached by Carine Herrygers in Turnhout, Hendrickx debuted on the ISU Junior Grand Prix series, finishing seventeenth in Dresden, Germany. She won her second junior national title and then placed sixteenth at the 2015 European Youth Olympic Festival. She closed her season with junior bronze medals at the International Challenge Cup and Coupe du Printemps.
2015–2016 season: Senior international debut Competing in the 2015–16 ISU Junior Grand Prix series, Hendrickx placed fourteenth in Riga, Latvia, and then eleventh in Logroño, Spain. Her senior international debut came in October 2015 at the International Cup of Nice; she finished seventh at the event. She missed the second half of the season due to a spinal fracture and resumed skating after six months.
2016–2017 season: Worlds debut
After the closure of Turnhout's ice rink, Hendrickx and her brother decided to train at a temporary rink. Although still age-eligible to compete on the junior level, she focused on senior events. Starting her season on the ISU Challenger Series, she placed seventh at both the 2016 CS Nebelhorn Trophy and 2016 CS Finlandia Trophy. In October 2016, she won her first senior international medal – silver at the International Cup of Nice. In November, she was awarded silver at the NRW Trophy and gold at the Belgian Championships. A lack of financial support led to her having to decline an invitation to an international event in Russia.
In January 2017, Hendrickx competed at her first ISU Championship – the European Championships in Ostrava, Czech Republic. She suffered from foot pain during the event but nevertheless placed eleventh in the short program and advanced to the free skate, in which she ranked seventh, resulting in a final placement of seventh.
In February 2017, Hendrickx won gold at the International Challenge Cup in The Hague, Netherlands. In March, she placed seventeenth in the short, fourteenth in the free, and fifteenth overall at the 2017 World Championships in Helsinki, Finland. Due to her result, Belgium qualified a spot in the ladies event at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. After this, she received some financial reimbursement from the Belgian figure skating federation for her expenses, having previously financed her career entirely by herself.
2017–2018 season: Pyeongchang Olympics A knee injury forced Hendrickx to withdraw from three events early in the season. She repeated as Belgian national champion in December. In January, she placed fifth at the 2018 European Championships in Moscow, Russia. The following month, she represented Belgium at the 2018 Winter Olympics, where she and her brother Jorik were the only siblings competing in the singles skating events. The journey to Pyeongchang, South Korea, was the longest Hendrickx had ever travelled before and the first time their mother had attended a major international event to watch them compete in person. The family crowdfunded the costs to bring her to the event by organizing dinners in local parish halls. Hendrickx placed sixteenth overall.
At the 2018 World Championships in Milan, Italy, Hendrickx set new personal bests in both segments to finish in ninth place. Her result qualified Belgium to send two skaters to compete at the 2019 World Championships.
2018–2019 season: Challenger bronze, Grand Prix debut Hendrickx began her season at the 2018 CS Nebelhorn Trophy, winning the bronze medal, her first Challenger medal. She achieved her goal of landing a triple Lutz-triple toe loop combination cleanly in both her short and free programs.
Her placement at the 2018 World Championships qualified her for two assignments on the 2018-19 Grand Prix. Making her first visit to the United States for 2018 Skate America, Hendrickx scored 54.13 in the short program but withdrew before the free skate for medical reasons. She placed fifth at the 2018 Grand Prix of Helsinki, her second event.
Hendrickx withdrew from the European Championships due to a back injury but was ready to compete at the World Championships in Saitama, where she placed twelfth. She had decided to attend the World Championships only a week prior.
2019–2020 season: Multiple injuries In the summer of 2019, Hendrickx sprained and fractured her ankle and tore three ligaments while at a training camp in Turkey. She returned to the ice in September but sustained another ankle injury on a triple flip attempt, necessitating another month off the ice. In December, she injured her ankle a third time, forcing her to withdraw from the 2020 European Championships. At the end of January 2020, she had a tendon injury in her left ankle, keeping her off the ice until past when the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic closed rinks. Upon returning to the ice three months later, she remarked, "I was so happy, without pain, and the motivation was there again."
2020–2021 season: Comeback Hendrickx was slated to make her return to competition at the 2020 CS Nebelhorn Trophy. She was added to the roster after another skater's withdrawal but withdrew before the competition started. Hendrickx started her 2020-21 season at the inaugural CS Budapest Trophy, achieving a new personal best in the short program and winning the gold medal overall. She was scheduled to compete on the Grand Prix at the 2020 Internationaux de France, but the event was cancelled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. She later won the International Challenge Cup for the second time in her career. She stated afterwards that she was still managing her back pain and had refrained from certain moves in training for three months.
At the 2021 World Championships in Stockholm, Hendrickx placed tenth in the short program after falling on her triple flip. In the free skate, Hendrickx skated cleanly to score a new personal best of 141.16, placing fourth in that segment and fifth overall. Her free skate score was only 0.44 points behind that of Elizaveta Tuktamysheva's, who was third in that segment. Hendrickx's fifth-place ordinal qualified two placements for Belgium at the 2022 World Championships, and the possibility of a second spot at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing. Looking ahead, she remarked: "an Olympic medal is a childhood dream, but let me stay injury-free first and foremost."
2021–2022 season: Beijing Olympics and World silver
In the pre-season, Hendrickx spent time training with famed Russian coach Alexei Mishin. In August, she announced that she was parting ways with longtime coach Carine Herrygers and would subsequently be coached solely by her brother Jorik and choreographer Adam Solya. Beginning her season at the 2021 CS Finlandia Trophy, she placed fourth.
Hendrickx's first Grand Prix assignment was initially the 2021 Cup of China, but following its cancellation, she was reassigned to the 2021 Gran Premio d'Italia in Turin. On her birthday, Hendrickx unexpectedly placed first in the short program with a new personal best of 73.52, following an error by pre-event favourite and World champion Anna Shcherbakova. She was third in the free skate and dropped behind Shcherbakova and Maiia Khromykh to take the bronze medal. This was both her first Grand Prix medal and the first ever for a Belgian woman, which she described as "a dream come true." In the interval between international events, Hendrickx won the Belgian senior national title for the fourth time. She then placed fifth at the 2021 Rostelecom Cup. In the free skate, she attempted a triple loop, which she said had "always been a challenge for me. Last week, it was pretty consistent, so we tried it today."
Hendrickx attended her first European Championships in four years in Tallinn and placed second in the short program with a clean skate, winning a silver medal. She struggled in the free skate, falling twice and placing fifth in that segment, dropping her to fourth place. She said afterwards that given the strength of the Russian skaters in the free, she had not expected to medal, but that "I would be happier being fourth with a better free program." However, in January 2024, the Court of Arbitration for Sport made the decision to annul Kamila Valieva's first-place result after she was found to have tested positive for using banned substances at the 2022 Russian Championships. As a result, Hendrickx was moved up by one placement and named the 2022 European Championship bronze medalist.
Named to her second Belgian Olympic team, Hendrickx served as Belgium's co-flagbearer during the opening ceremonies, alongside alpine skier Armand Marchant. Hendrickx began the 2022 Winter Olympics women's event placing seventh in the short program. She put a hand down on her double Axel and fought for other jump landings, admitting after, "I think I had a little adrenaline, and 70 points is still okay." Ninth in the free skate, she finished eighth overall.
The Belgian skating federation initially forgot to submit Hendrickx's name to compete at the 2022 World Championships, but upon publication of the entry list, they were able to correct this via appeal to ISU president Jan Dijkema. Due to Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine days after the Olympics concluded, all Russian and Belarusian athletes were banned from participating at the World Championships. With the Russian women who had dominated the sport for most of the preceding eight years absence, Hendrickx was perceived as a major podium contender. She tore a groin muscle three weeks before the championships and was unable to train before the competition began. Despite a rough landing on her combination, Hendrickx finished second in the short program, winning a silver small medal. With 75.00 points, she was 5.32 points behind segment leader Kaori Sakamoto and 2.45 points ahead of third-place Mariah Bell. In the free skate, Hendrickx underrotated two triple jumps, but placed second in that segment as well to take the silver medal. She became the first Belgian woman to win a World Championship medal and the first Belgian figure skater to do so in any discipline since the pair team Lannoy/Baugniet in 1948. Reflecting on her struggle with injury, Hendrickx said, "I'm proud I didn't give up despite my injury, but I think today was a limit, and now my body needs a rest."
2022–2023 season: Grand Prix Final bronze, European silver, World bronze