Juni Marie Benjaminsen (born 21 March 1999) is a Norwegian former competitive

figure skater Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are me ...

. In 2015, she became the first Norwegian ladies' skater in 16 years to advance to the free skate at the World Junior Championships. She has competed in the final segment at two editions.

Personal life

Juni Marie Benjaminsen was born on 21 March 1999 in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

, Norway. Her parents are Finnish orienteer

Anne Benjaminsen Anne Benjaminsen (; born 25 March 1964) is a Finnish ski-orienteering competitor and World Champion. She participated at the 1988 World Ski Orienteering Championships in Kuopio, and won a gold medal in the ''relay'' with the Finnish team, w ...

and Norwegian orienteer Vidar Benjaminsen. Orienteer

Andrine Benjaminsen Andrine Benjaminsen (born 23 August 1995) is a Norwegian Orienteering, orienteer and ski orienteering, ski orienteer. Career Benjaminsen represented Norway at the 2017 World Orienteering Championships in Tartu, Estonia, where her best result was ...

is her sister.

Career

Early career

Benjaminsen started skating in 2004 at Oslo Skøiteklub. Benjaminsen won the Norwegian novice ladies' title during the 2012–13 season. The following season, she competed on the junior level, placing 10th at the 2014 Nordic Championships.

2014–2015 season

Benjaminsen made her ISU Junior Grand Prix (JGP) debut in the 2014–15 season, placing 19th in Courchevel and 23rd in

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...

. She placed 5th in junior ladies at the

Tallinn Trophy The Tallinn Trophy is an international figure skating competition, typically held in November or December in Tallinn, Estonia. In some years, its senior categories are included in the ISU Challenger Series. Medals may be awarded in men's singles ...

, took the junior bronze medal at the 2015 Nordic Championships, and finished 13th at the 2015 European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF). At the 2015 World Junior Championships in

, she scored her personal best in the short program and advanced to the final, finishing 22nd overall. She was the first Norwegian in 16 years to qualify for the ladies' free skate at a World Junior Championships.

2015–2016 season

During summer 2015 she trained in

Oberstdorf Oberstdorf ( Low Alemannic: ''Oberschdorf'') is a municipality and skiing and hiking town in Germany, located in the Allgäu region of the Bavarian Alps. It is the southernmost settlement in Germany and one of its highest towns. At the&nb ...

, Germany and

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

, United States. Benjaminsen began her season on the JGP series, placing 16th in Latvia and 14th in Spain. In Riga, Latvia, she became the first Norwegian woman to have successfully landed a triple-triple combination in competition. Making her senior international debut, she finished 12th at an

ISU Challenger Series The ISU Challenger Series is a series of international figure skating competitions. Established by the International Skating Union in the 2014–15 season, it is a group of senior-level events ranked below the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating. E ...

(CS) event in November, the

2015 Tallinn Trophy The 2015 Tallinn Trophy was an international figure skating competition held in November 2015 at the Tondiraba Ice Hall in Tallinn, Estonia. Its senior-level event was part of the 2015–16 ISU Challenger Series. Medals were awarded in the discip ...

. She won the silver medal at the 2016 Norwegian Junior Championships, and placed 6th at the 2016 Nordics after winning the short program. At the 2016 Junior Worlds she advanced to the final placing 20th in the short program, and finished 22nd overall.

2016–2017 season

Benjaminsen competed in Slovenia and Germany in the JGP season. She competed in the senior category for the first time at the 2017 Norwegian Championships, taking silver behind Jemima Rasmuss. She also competed at the 2017 Junior Worlds, but did not advance to the free skate. She announced her retirement from competitive skating on 10 May 2017.Juni Marie retires from competitive skating
at Oslo Skating Club

Programs

Competitive highlights

''CS: Challenger Series; JGP:

Junior Grand Prix The ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating (titled the ISU Junior Series in the 1997–98 season) is a series of international junior-level competitions organized by the International Skating Union. Medals are awarded in the disciplines of men ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Benjaminsen, Juni Marie 1999 births Figure skaters from Oslo Norwegian female single skaters Living people Figure skaters at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics Norwegian people of Finnish descent 21st-century Norwegian women 21st-century Norwegian people