Jennifer Janse van Rensburg (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Urban; born 9 May 1993) is a German

ice dance Ice dance (sometimes referred to as ice dancing) is a discipline of figure skating that historically draws from ballroom dancing. It joined the World Figure Skating Championships in 1952, and became a Winter Olympic Games medal sport in 1976. Ac ...

r. With her skating partner, Benjamin Steffan, she is the 2020 Santa Claus Cup champion, the 2021 Egna Dance Trophy silver medalist, a three-time

Bavarian Open The Bavarian Open is an international figure skating competition held in February at the Eissportzentrum Oberstdorf in Oberstdorf, Germany. It is organized by the Skating Union of Bavaria. Since 2011, it has been sanctioned by the Deutsche Eisla ...

champion (2022–24), and four time German national champions (2022–25).

Personal life

Janse van Rensburg was born on 9 May 1993 in

Oberstdorf Oberstdorf (Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Oberschdorf'') is a Municipalities of Germany, municipality and skiing and hiking town in Germany, located in the Allgäu region of the Bavarian Alps. It is the southernmost settlement in German ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. She married boyfriend, Ampie Janse van Rensburg, in December 2019, and subsequently adopted his last name.

Career

Early career

Janse van Rensburg began figure skating in 1999. Originally competing as a singles skater, she first trained in

under Badri Kurashvili before eventually moving on to train under Michael Huth. She would eventually go on to win the bronze medal at the 2010 German Junior Championships. Prior to the

2014–15 figure skating season The 2014–15 figure skating season began on July 1, 2014, and ended on June 30, 2015. During this season, elite skaters competed at the 2015 European Championships, Four Continents Championships, World Junior Championships, and World Champion ...

, it was announced that Janse van Rensburg had made the decision to switch to ice dance and had teamed up with Sevan Lerche and that the duo would be coached by Rostislav Sinicyn, Natalia Karamysheva, and Martin Skotnický in Oberstdorf. The duo won silver at the 2015 German Championships and were selected to represent Germany at the 2015 European Championships, where they finished in twenty-first place. Their partnership would dissolve, however, during the following season.

Partnership with Steffan

Early years in partnership

Prior to the

2016–17 figure skating season The 2016–17 figure skating season began on July 1, 2016, and ended on June 30, 2017. During this season, elite skaters competed at the 2017 European Championships, Four Continents Championships, World Junior Championships, and World Champio ...

, it was announced that Janse van Rensburg had teamed with fellow German ice dancer, Benjamin Steffan and that the duo would train in

under coaches, Rostislav Sinicyn and Natalia Karamysheva. For the first few seasons of their career, Janse van Rensburg/Steffan competed at various

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 figure skating season, 2014–15 season, it is a group of senior-level events ranked below the ISU ...

events. They won their first national medal together, a bronze, at the 2019 German Championships and won their first international medal together, a silver, at the 2019 Bavarian Open. The following year, they would win silver at the 2020 German Championships.

2020–21 season

Janse van Rensburg/Steffan only competed at two events that season, medalling at both. They would win gold at the 2020 Santa Claus Cup and silver at the 2021 Egna Dance Trophy.

2021–22 season

Janse van Rensburg/Steffan started the season by competing at the 2021 Lake Placid Ice Dance International. Going on to compete on the

2021–22 ISU Challenger Series The 2021–22 ISU Challenger Series was held from September to December 2021. It was the eighth season that the ISU Challenger Series, a group of senior-level international figure skating competitions, was held. Competitions This season, the ...

, the duo finished seventh at the 2021 CS Lombardia Trophy, tenth at the

2021 CS Finlandia Trophy The 2021 CS Finlandia Trophy was held on October 7–10, 2021 in Espoo, Finland. It was part of the 2021–22 ISU Challenger Series. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of single skating, men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, pairs, an ...

, and seventh at the

2021 CS Cup of Austria The 2021 CS Cup of Austria by Icechallenge was held on November 11–14, 2021 in Graz, Austria. It was part of the 2021–22 ISU Challenger Series. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, women's singles, and ice dance. Entri ...

. Assigned to an event on the 2021–22 Grand Prix circuit for the first time, Janse van Rensburg/Steffan finished tenth at the 2021 Internationaux de France. In December, they won their first national title at the 2022 German Championships. They would then close the season by winning gold at the 2022 Bavarian Open and the 2022 Egna Dance Trophy.

2022–23 season

Assigned to compete at 2022 Skate America, Janse van Rensburg/Steffan started the season by finishing ninth at the event. They would then compete on the

2022–23 ISU Challenger Series The 2022–23 ISU Challenger Series was held from September to December 2022. It was the ninth season that the ISU Challenger Series, a group of senior-level international figure skating competitions, was held. Competitions This season, the se ...

, finishing winning silver at the 2022 CS Denis Ten Memorial Challenge and the

2022 CS Warsaw Cup The 2022 CS Warsaw Cup was held on November 17–20, 2022, in Warsaw, Poland. It was the ninth event of the 2022–23 ISU Challenger Series. Medals were awarded in men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance. Entries The Inter ...

as well as sixth at the

2022 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb The 2022 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb was held on December 7–10, 2022, in Sisak, Croatia. It was part of the 2022–23 ISU Challenger Series. Medals were awarded in men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance. Entries The Inter ...

. At the 2023 German Championships in January, Janse van Rensburg/Steffan won their second national title. For the first time, they were selected to represent Germany as a team at the European and World Championships. Going on to compete at the 2023 European Championships in

Espoo Espoo (, ; ) is a city in Finland. It is located to the west of the capital, Helsinki, in southern Uusimaa. The population is approximately . It is the most populous Municipalities of Finland, municipality in Finland. Espoo is part of the Helsi ...

, Finland, Janse van Rensburg/Steffan finished in ninth place. One week following the event, they won gold at the

2023 Bavarian Open 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious and cultural significance in many societies ...

for a second consecutive time. In March, Janse van Rensburg/Steffan competed at the 2023 World Championships in Saitama, Japan. They would finish the event in fifteenth place.

2023–24 season

Janse van Rensburg/Steffan began the season by competing on the

2023–24 ISU Challenger Series The 2023–24 ISU Challenger Series was held from September to December 2023. It was the tenth season that the ISU Challenger Series, a group of senior-level international figure skating competitions, was held. Competitions This season, the se ...

, finishing fourth at the

2023 CS Nebelhorn Trophy The 2023 CS Nebelhorn Trophy was held on September 20–23, 2023, in Oberstdorf, Germany. It was part of the 2023–24 ISU Challenger Series. Medals were awarded in men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance. Entries The Int ...

and fourth at the

2023 CS Budapest Trophy The 2023 CS Budapest Trophy was held on October 13–15, 2023, in Budapest, Hungary. It was part of the 2023–24 ISU Challenger Series. Medals were awarded in men's singles, women's singles, and ice dance. Entries The International Skating U ...

. Assigned to two Grand Prix events for the first time, they would finish eighth at

2023 Skate Canada International The 2023 Skate Canada International was the second event of the 2023–24 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating: a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Thunderbird Sports Centre, Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Spor ...

and ninth at the

2023 Grand Prix of Espoo The 2023 Grand Prix of Espoo was the fifth event of the 2023–24 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating: a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Espoo Metro Areena in Espoo, Finland, from November 17–19. Med ...

. Between these events, they would also take silver at the 2023 CS Denis Ten Memorial Challenge. After winning their third national title at the 2024 German Championships, Janse van Rensburg/Steffan were selected to compete at the

2024 European Championships 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is a square number, the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. Evolution of the Hi ...

Kaunas Kaunas (; ) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius, the fourth largest List of cities in the Baltic states by population, city in the Baltic States and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaun ...

, Lithuania, where they finished eleventh. At the end of January, Rensburg/Steffan took gold at the 2024 Bavarian Open. Two months later, they competed at the 2024 World Championships in

Montreal, Quebec Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Canada, where they would finish in twenty-second place.

2024–25 season

Beginning their season on the 2024–25 Grand Prix circuit, Janse van Rensburg/Steffan finished seventh at the

2024 NHK Trophy The 2024 NHK Trophy was the fourth event of the 2024–25 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating: a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan, from November 8–10. Medals w ...

. They went on to compete on the

2024–25 ISU Challenger Series The 2024–25 ISU Challenger Series was held from September to December 2024. It was the tenth season of the ISU Challenger Series, a group of senior-level international figure skating competitions. Competitions The International Skating Union ...

, placing sixth at the

2024 CS Warsaw Cup The 2024 CS Warsaw Cup was held on November 20–24, 2024, in Warsaw, Poland. It was part of the 2024–25 ISU Challenger Series. Medals were awarded in men's singles, women's singles, pairs, and ice dance. Entries The International Skating U ...

and winning bronze at the

2024 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb The 2024 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb was held on December 4–7, 2024, in Zagreb, Croatia. It was part of the 2024–25 ISU Challenger Series. Medals were awarded in men's singles, women's singles, pairs, and ice dance. Entries The Internationa ...

. After winning a fourth consecutive national title at the 2025 German Championships, Janse van Rensburg/Steffan followed this up by winning gold at the 2025 Bavarian Open. Going on to compete at the 2025 European Championships in

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

, Estonia, Janse van Rensburg/Steffan earned personal best scores in all competition segments and finished in eleventh place overall. They subsequently won the bronze medal at the Road to 26 Trophy in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, Italy, a test event for the

2026 Winter Olympics The 2026 Winter Olympics (), officially the XXV Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Milano Cortina 2026, is an upcoming international multi-sport event scheduled to take place from 6 to 22 February 2026 at sites across Lombardy and North ...

. The pair ended the season by competing at the 2025 World Championships in

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, United States, where they finished sixteenth overall. With this placement, Janse van Rensburg/Steffan's placement won Germany a quota for ice dance at the

Programs

Ice dance with Benjamin Steffan

Ice dance with Sevan Lerche

Single skating

Competitive highlights

Ice dance with Benjamin Steffan

Ice dance with Sevan Lerche

Single skating

Detailed results

Ice dance with Benjamin Steffan

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Janse van Rensburg, Jennifer 1993 births Living people German female ice dancers German female single skaters Sportspeople from Oberstdorf Competitors at the 2015 Winter Universiade Competitors at the 2017 Winter Universiade 21st-century German sportswomen