“I had a strange feeling.” That whispered Loena Hendrickx in the ear of her brother and coach Jorik after her short freestyle. The Belgian flag-bearer had to shake her hand at her second element to keep her balance.
After her practice she shook her head: at the European Championships she was still 2nd after a fantastic short freestyle, but now she didn’t stay clear. With 70.09 points for her exercise she is sure of 7th place.
“I didn’t have the stress and the adrenaline to really be there,” Hendrickx said. “Looking back, it wasn’t bad at all and I’m satisfied, but I just expected better.”
“I was ready and it went well in training. I wanted to show that too. It was only one mistake, but it shouldn’t have been there. Maybe I should pick myself up a little more for the free freestyle.”
At the European Championships, Hendrickx’s freestyle was slightly less, so she just missed the podium. “Maybe I can turn it around now,” she says. “I want to prove that my freestyle can be flawless, like in training. It’s going to be fight, fight fight.”
Thursday is the free freestyle on the program.
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