1. Loena Hendrickx is a two-time World medalist, the 2024 European champion, the 2023 European silver medalist, the 2022 European bronze medalist, a two-time ISU Grand Prix Final medalist, a two-time Grand Prix gold medalist, a two-time Challenger series gold medalist, a two-time International Challenge Cup champion, and a five-time Belgian national champion.
Loena Hendrickx represented Belgium at the 2018 and 2022 Winter Olympics, finishing sixteenth and eighth, respectively.
Loena Hendrickx was born on November 5,1999, in Turnhout, Belgium.
Loena Hendrickx is the younger sister of Belgian figure skater Jorik Hendrickx.
Loena Hendrickx appeared internationally on the advanced novice level from December 2012 through December 2013 and then moved up to the junior ranks.
Loena Hendrickx won her second junior national title and then placed sixteenth at the 2015 European Youth Olympic Festival.
Loena Hendrickx closed her season with junior bronze medals at the International Challenge Cup and Coupe du Printemps.
Loena Hendrickx missed the second half of the season due to a spinal fracture and resumed skating after six months.
Loena Hendrickx 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, Loena Hendrickx won gold at the International Challenge Cup in The Hague, Netherlands.
The journey to Pyeongchang, South Korea, was the longest Loena Hendrickx had ever travelled before and the first time their mother had attended a major international event to watch them compete in person.
At the 2018 World Championships in Milan, Italy, Loena Hendrickx set new personal bests in both segments to finish in ninth place.
Loena Hendrickx began her season at the 2018 CS Nebelhorn Trophy, winning the bronze medal, her first Challenger medal.
Loena Hendrickx achieved her goal of landing a triple Lutz-triple toe loop combination cleanly in both her short and free programs.
Loena Hendrickx placed fifth at the 2018 Grand Prix of Helsinki, her second event.
Loena 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.
Loena Hendrickx had decided to attend the World Championships only a week prior.
Loena Hendrickx was slated to make her return to competition at the 2020 CS Nebelhorn Trophy.
Loena Hendrickx was added to the roster after another skater's withdrawal but withdrew before the competition started.
Loena Hendrickx 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.
Loena Hendrickx later won the International Challenge Cup for the second time in her career.
Loena Hendrickx 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, Loena Hendrickx placed tenth in the short program after falling on her triple flip.
On her birthday, Loena 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.
Loena Hendrickx was third in the free skate and dropped behind Shcherbakova and Maiia Khromykh to take the bronze medal.
Loena Hendrickx then placed fifth at the 2021 Rostelecom Cup.
Loena 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.
Loena Hendrickx struggled in the free skate, falling twice and placing fifth in that segment, dropping her to fourth place.
Loena Hendrickx began the 2022 Winter Olympics women's event placing seventh in the short program.
Loena Hendrickx tore a groin muscle three weeks before the championships and was unable to train before the competition began.
Loena Hendrickx was assigned to the 2022 CS Nebelhorn Trophy to start the season, entering as the pre-event favourite.
Loena Hendrickx won the gold medal by almost fifteen points, though narrowly finishing second in the free skate behind silver medalist Wi Seo-yeong.
Loena Hendrickx was then invited to be part of Team Europe at the Japan Open.
Loena Hendrickx finished second in the women's free skate competition, behind Japan's Kaori Sakamoto, with a score of 132.53.
Loena Hendrickx then competed at the 2022 Grand Prix de France Grand Prix event, where she won both the short program and free skate, the latter taking place on her 23rd birthday.
Loena Hendrickx was presented with a birthday cake in the Kiss and cry after the free skate by French skater Mae-Berenice Meite.
Loena Hendrickx debuted another revision to her free skate, discarding Fachinetti's "Poeta" in favour of additional original music by Karl Hugo.
Loena Hendrickx won the short program, finishing 1.30 points ahead of Mihara.
Loena Hendrickx finished third in the short program, behind Sakamoto and Mihara, after both parts of her jump combination were deemed slightly underrotated.
Loena Hendrickx struggled more in the free skate, making several jump errors, but with the competition as a whole being "turbulent" and with many skaters underperforming, she remained in third place overall and won the bronze medal.
Loena Hendrickx nevertheless finished fourth in the segment, and came third overall, winning the bronze medal.
Loena Hendrickx began the Grand Prix at the 2023 Skate America, entering as the favourite for the title.
Loena Hendrickx won the short program despite underrotating the second part of her jump combination.
Loena Hendrickx went on to win the free skate as well, nearly equaling her personal best in that segment and narrowly setting a new personal best total score, despite another underrotation call on her jump combination.
Fellow Belgian skater Nina Pinzarrone qualified to the Final and placed fourth, which Loena Hendrickx expressed pride in.
Loena Hendrickx entered the European Championships in Kaunas as the title favourite, and won both segments of the competition to take the gold medal, despite a few minor jump errors.
In early February, in advance of the 2024 World Championships, Loena Hendrickx received the Best Costume award at the 2024 ISU Skating Awards for her free program outfit.
Loena Hendrickx dealt with a hip injury, as a result of which she modified her short program layout to move her jump combination into the first half.
Loena Hendrickx won the short program in Montreal, claiming a gold small medal and a new personal best score of 76.98.
Loena Hendrickx was eighth in the segment and dropped to fourth overall, 3.34 points behind South Korean bronze medalist Kim Chae-yeon.
Loena Hendrickx discussed the stress of the event, concluding she was still "very proud of the short program" and that she aimed for and admired the consistency of eventual champion Kaori Sakamoto.
Loena Hendrickx began the season in early October by finishing third at the 2024 Shanghai Trophy following an error-riddled free skate.
One week following the event, Loena Hendrickx announced her withdrawal from the 2024 Grand Prix de France, citing a need for additional time to prepare for upcoming events.
In early November, it announced that Loena Hendrickx had withdrawn from the 2024 Finlandia Trophy two weeks prior to the event.
Loena Hendrickx announced that she would return to competition at the 2024 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb in early December.
In late January, Loena Hendrickx announced that she would miss the rest of the season because she needed to undergo surgery in February to repair her ankle, which had damaged ligaments and had never fully recovered from her injuries in 2019.
Loena Hendrickx said that she was not yet ready to stop competing and that after her surgery, she would focus on rehabilitation in hopes of competing at the 2026 Winter Olympics.