Annika Hocke

Annika Maria Hocke (born 16 July 2000) is a German pair skater. With her skating partner, Robert Kunkel, she is the 2023 European bronze medalist, 2022 Grand Prix de France bronze medalist, and has won three medals on the ISU Challenger Series, including gold at the 2022 CS Finlandia Trophy. They won two bronze medals on the 2019–20 ISU Junior Grand Prix series. Domestically they are the 2023 German national champions.

With former partner Ruben Blommaert, she is the 2017 CS Ice Star silver medalist, the 2018 Bavarian Open silver medalist, the 2018 International Cup of Nice silver medalist, and the 2018 German national silver medalist. They placed 16th at the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Hocke formerly competed in ladies' singles, winning bronze at the 2017 German Championships and placing eleventh at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics.

Personal life

Annika Hocke was born on 16 July 2000 in Berlin. She was raised in Zehlendorf. Her parents, Sylvia Warnke and Ansgar Hocke, are journalists.

Career

Single skating

Hocke began skating as a four-year-old in 2005, learning at an ice rink in Wilmersdorf. In January 2014, she won gold in the under-13 novice girls category at the German Youth Championships.

In the 2015–16 season, Hocke won junior medals at three international competitions – silver at the Volvo Open Cup in Riga, gold at the NRW Trophy in Dortmund, and gold at the Santa Claus Cup in Budapest. In January 2016, she won the junior silver medal at the German Youth Championships. In February, she represented Germany at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics in Hamar, Norway. Competing in the individual ladies' event, Hocke placed 15th in the short program, 10th in the free skate, and 11th overall. She was a member of Team Determination in the mixed NOC team event, replacing Kaori Sakamoto, who withdrew due to injury. She placed 6th in her segment and her team finished 8th. She is coached by Manuela Machon in Berlin.

Pair skating

In September 2014, Hocke teamed up with Juri Gnilozoubov to compete in pairs, training in Berlin. They placed fourth in junior pairs at the International Challenge Cup in February 2015.

Hocke and Ruben Blommaert announced their partnership on 9 February 2017. A year later, in February 2018, the pair competed at the Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, finishing in sixteenth place. They finished in thirteenth place at the following World Championships in March 2018. Hocke and Blommaert announced the end of their partnership following a fourteenth-place finish at the 2019 World Championships.

2019–20 season

Soon after, Hocke announced that she had formed a new partnership with Robert Kunkel. Despite Hocke having previously attended the Olympics, the two were still age-eligible for international junior competitions, and so began on the Junior Grand Prix, where they won two bronze medals at JGP Croatia and JGP Poland, and were the only non-Russian team to qualify to the Junior Grand Prix Final, where they placed sixth. On the senior level, Hocke/Kunkel debuted at the 2019 CS Warsaw Cup, placing sixth, and then won silver medals at the German nationals championships and the 2020 Bavarian Open. They were seventh at the 2020 European Championships.

Hocke/Kunkel concluded the season at the 2020 World Junior Championships, where they placed fourth and won a small bronze medal for a third-place finish in the free skate; only Kunkel invalidating their pair spin element by putting both feet down kept them from winning the overall bronze medal. Despite this, Hocke remarked, "our first and last Junior World Championships — it was amazing!" They had been scheduled to make their senior World Championship debut in Montreal, but the Championships were canceled as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

2020–21 season

With the pandemic continuing to affect events, Hocke/Kunkel made their season debut at the 2020 CS Nebelhorn Trophy, which featured only pairs training in Europe. They were second in the short program, behind countrymen Hase/ Seegert, who subsequently had to withdraw because of injury. They were overtaken in the free skate by Italian team Ghilardi/ Ambrosini and won the silver medal.

Hocke/Kunkel were scheduled to make their Grand Prix debut at the 2020 Internationaux de France, but the event was canceled due to the pandemic.

Initially, both Hocke/Kunkel and Hase/Seegert were assigned to represent Germany at the 2021 World Championships in Stockholm, but Hase/Seegert were forced to withdraw after Hase sustained a leg injury, leaving Hocke/Kunkel as the lone representative. They placed thirteenth in their Worlds debut.

2021–22 season

Hocke/Kunkel began the season at the 2021 CS Nebelhorn Trophy, where they placed fourth. Hocke said afterward she was pleased with their performance in light of multiple disruptions to their summer training caused by injury and illness. They went on to place eleventh at the 2021 CS Finlandia Trophy.

Initially assigned to the 2021 Cup of China on the Grand Prix, Hocke/Kunkel were reassigned to the 2021 Gran Premio d'Italia following the former event's cancellation. They placed eighth in the short program, and then withdrew due to medical reasons. In the new year, they finished thirteenth at the 2022 European Championships.

2022–23 season

Before the season, Hocke/Kunkel relocated to Bergamo, Italy with Ondrej Hotarek, Franca Bianconi, and Rosanna Murante becoming their new coaches. They began the season with a bronze medal at the 2022 CS Nebelhorn Trophy and a gold medal at the 2022 CS Finlandia Trophy. Kunkel contracted COVID-19 shortly after the Finlandia Trophy, impeding their preparations for the Grand Prix, but they were able to compete at their first assignment, the 2022 Grand Prix de France. They won the bronze medal, their first Grand Prix medal, with Kunkel saying they were "very happy with the outcome."

On November 15, Hocke announced via her Instagram that she and Kunkel had withdrawn from the 2022 NHK Trophy due to Hocke testing positive for COVID-19 just prior to the event.

Hocke/Kunkel returned to competition at the German championships, winning their first national gold medal and an assignment to compete at the 2023 European Championships. With Russian pairs banned from competing due to the Russo-Ukrainian War, the podium was considered far more open than in prior years. Both made jump errors in the short program, but they finished second in the segment, winning a silver small medal. Third in the free skate, they dropped to third overall, winning the bronze medal.

Programs

Pairs with Kunkel

Pairs with Blommaert

Ladies' singles

Competition results

''GP: Grand Prix; CS: ISU Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix''

Pairs with Kunkel

Pairs with Blommaert

Pairs with Gnilozoubov

Ladies' singles

Detailed results

''Small medals for short and free programs awarded only at ISU Championships.''

With Kunkel

Senior results

Junior results

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hocke, Annika
2000 births
Living people
German female single skaters
Olympic figure skaters of Germany
Figure skaters at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics
Figure skaters at the 2018 Winter Olympics
Figure skaters from Berlin
21st-century German women