Sofus Heggemsnes (born 13 July 1999) is a Norwegian
artistic gymnast
Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different apparatuses. The sport is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), which designs the Code of Points and regulates ...
who competed at the
2017
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,
2018
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, and
2019 World Championships. He represented
Norway at the
2020 Summer Olympics
The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July.
Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...
in
Tokyo,
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
. He is a four-time
Northern European champion, as well as a World Cup bronze medalist.
Early life
Heggemsnes was born in
Oslo,
Norway to a Swedish father of
Jamaican and
Trinidadian descent, and a Norwegian mother who was born in
California. He has a twin brother, as well as two older brothers and two older sisters.
Heggemsnes first took up
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
as a child, and used to celebrate goals by doing cartwheels. A parent of another player suggested to his mother that she should enroll him in gymnastics. He started training in gymnastics at age nine.
Gymnastics career
Heggemsnes has been training with his current coach Valentyn Skrypin since age 11. He made his international debut at the
2016 Junior European Championships in
Bern
german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese
, neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen
, website ...
,
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
, placing 42nd in the all-around during qualifications. Later that year, he competed at the
2016 Northern European Championships in
Trondheim, where he was part of the gold medal-winning Norwegian team. Individually, he took the silver medal in the all-around and on the pommel horse, and the bronze on the parallel bars.
Heggemsnes became a senior in 2017, making his international senior debut at the
Varna World Cup in
Bulgaria, placing seventh in the pommel horse final. He went on to compete at his first
World Championships in
Montreal,
Canada, but did not make any finals. In 2018, he competed at the
European Championships
The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...
in
Glasgow, and the
World Championships in
Doha, where he placed 40th all-around in qualifications, and 22nd with the Norwegian team. He also finished seventh on pommel horse at the
2018 Guimarães World Cup.
In 2019, Heggemsnes became the senior Norwegian all-around national champion and won a bronze medal on vault at the
Szombathely World Cup in
Hungary. He also had success at the
2019 Northern European Championships in
Kópavogur, winning the all-around title with a score of 80.950, and helping Norway take the team gold ahead of
Wales and
Scotland. He also won gold on floor, silver on rings, parallel bars and horizontal bar, as well as a bronze on pommel horse. Heggemsnes went on to compete at the
2019 World Championships in
Stuttgart
Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...
where he placed 51st all-around in qualifications, scoring 79.623. His performance at the World Championships earned him an individual spot at the
2020 Summer Olympics
The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July.
Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...
in
Tokyo.
At the Tokyo Olympics, Heggemsnes competed on pommel horse, rings, parallel bars and the horizontal bar but did not reach the finals.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Heggemsnes, Sofus
1999 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Oslo
Norwegian male artistic gymnasts
Gymnasts at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Olympic gymnasts for Norway
Norwegian people of Swedish descent
Norwegian people of American descent
Norwegian people of Trinidad and Tobago descent
Norwegian people of Jamaican descent
21st-century Norwegian people