Annika Maria Hocke (born 16 July 2000) is a German

pair skater Pair skating is a figure skating discipline defined by the International Skating Union (ISU) as "the skating of two persons in unison who perform their movements in such harmony with each other as to give the impression of genuine Pair Skating a ...

. With her skating partner,

Robert Kunkel Robert Kunkel (born 28 April 1999) is a German pair skater. With his skating partner, Annika Hocke, he is the 2023 European Figure Skating Championships, 2023 European bronze medalist, the 2023 Skate America champion, 2022 Grand Prix de France br ...

, she is the 2023 European bronze medalist, the 2023 Skate America champion,

2022 Grand Prix de France The 2022 Grand Prix de France was the third event of the 2022–23 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating: a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Angers IceParc in Angers from November 4–6. Medals were award ...

bronze medalist, and has won five medals on the

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 ...

, including gold at the

2022 CS Finlandia Trophy The 2022 CS Finlandia Trophy was held on October 4–9, 2022, in Espoo, Finland. It was the fifth 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 In ...

. They won two bronze medals on the

2019–20 ISU Junior Grand Prix The 2019–20 ISU Junior Grand Prix was a series of junior international competitions organized by the International Skating Union that were held from August 2019 through December 2019. It was the junior-level complement to the 2019–20 ISU Grand ...

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 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 ...

silver medalist, the 2018

International Cup of Nice International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

silver medalist, and the 2018 German national silver medalist. They placed sixteenth at the

2018 Winter Olympics The 2018 Winter Olympics (), officially the XXIII Olympic Winter Games (; ) and also known as PyeongChang 2018 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held between 9 and 25 February 2018 in Pyeongchang County, South Ko ...

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

2016 Winter Youth Olympics The 2016 Winter Youth Olympics (; ), officially known as the II Winter Youth Olympic Games, took place in and around Lillehammer, Norway, from 12 to 21 February 2016. They were the fourth Youth Olympic Games and the second winter edition. Lilleha ...

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

Early career

Hocke began skating as a four-year-old in 2005, learning at an ice rink in

Wilmersdorf Wilmersdorf () is an inner-city locality of Berlin which lies south-west of the central city. Formerly a borough by itself, Wilmersdorf became part of the new Boroughs of Berlin, borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf following Berlin's 2001 admin ...

. 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 The Volvo Open Cup is an annual international figure skating competition held in Riga, Latvia. In some years, the event is part of the ISU Challenger Series. Medals may be awarded in men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance ...

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

, gold at the

NRW Trophy The NRW Trophy (also known as the NRW Summer Trophy or the NRW Autumn Trophy) is an annual international figure skating competition organized by the Skating Union of North Rhine-Westphalia. Since 2007, it has been sanctioned by the Deutsche Eisla ...

Dortmund Dortmund (; ; ) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the List of cities in Germany by population, ninth-largest city in Germany. With a population of 614,495 inhabitants, it is the largest city ...

, and gold at the

Santa Claus Cup The Santa Claus Cup is an annual international figure skating competition which is generally held in late November or early December in Budapest, Hungary. It is organized by the Hungarian National Skating Federation. Medals may be awarded in single ...

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

. In January 2016, she won the junior silver medal at the German Youth Championships. In February, she represented Germany at the

Hamar Hamar is a List of cities in Norway, town in Hamar Municipality in Innlandet Counties of Norway, county, Norway. Hamar is the administrative centre of Hamar Municipality. It is located in the Districts of Norway, traditional region of Hedmarken. ...

, Norway. Competing in the individual ladies' event, Hocke placed fifteenth in the short program, tenth in the free skate, and eleventh overall. She was a member of Team Determination in the mixed NOC team event, replacing

Kaori Sakamoto is a Japanese figure skater. She is the Figure skating at the 2022 Winter Olympics, 2022 Olympic bronze medalist, a Figure skating at the 2022 Winter Olympics – Team event, 2022 Olympic team event silver medalist, a three-time World Figure Ska ...

, who withdrew due to injury. She placed sixth in her segment and her team finished eighth. She was coached by Manuela Machon in Berlin. In September 2014, Hocke teamed up with Juri Gnilozoubov to compete in

pairs Concentration is a round game in which all of the cards are laid face down on a surface and two cards are flipped face up over each turn. The object of the game is to turn over pairs of matching cards. Concentration can be played with any number ...

, training in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. They placed fourth in junior pairs at the

International Challenge Cup The International Challenge Cup (formerly known as the Ennia Challenge Cup and the Aegon Cup) is an annual figure skating competition generally held in the Netherlands during the last week in February. Although the competition had been held for ...

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 A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

in March 2018. Hocke and Blommaert announced the end of their partnership following a fourteenth-place finish at the 2019 World Championships.

Partnership with Kunkel

2019–20 season

2019-2020 ISU Junior Grand Prix Final Annika Hocke Robert Kunkel 2019 12 07 2048

It summer 2019, it was announced that Hocke had teamed up with fellow German pair skater,

and that they would be coached in

by Rico Rex, Dmitri Savin,

Alexander Koenig Alexander Ferdinand Koenig (20 February 1858 – 16 July 1940) was a German natural history, naturalist and zoologist. Making use of the family wealth earned from the sugar business, he went on collection expeditions and founded what is now k ...

, and Romy Oesterreich. 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 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 ...

, 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 The ISU Junior Grand Prix Final (titled the ISU Junior Series Final in the 1997–98 season) is the final event of a series of junior-level competitions – the ISU Junior Grand Prix – organized by the International Skating Union (ISU). Medal ...

, where they placed sixth. On the senior level, Hocke/Kunkel debuted at the

2019 CS Warsaw Cup The 2019 CS Warsaw Cup was held in November 2019 in Warsaw, Poland. It was part of the 2019–20 ISU Challenger Series. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dance Ice dance (sometime ...

, 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 A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

debut in

Montreal 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 ...

, but the Championships were canceled as a result of the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

2020–21 season

With the pandemic continuing to affect events, Hocke/Kunkel made their season debut at the

2020 CS Nebelhorn Trophy The 2020 CS Nebelhorn Trophy was held in September 2020 in Oberstdorf, Germany. It was part of the 2020–21 ISU Challenger Series. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dance. On Augus ...

, which featured only pairs training in Europe. They were second in the short program, behind countrymen

Hase The Hase () is a river of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is a right tributary of the Ems, but part of its flow goes to the Else, that is part of the Weser basin. Its source is in the Teutoburg Forest, south-east of Osnabrück, on the north slope ...

/ 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 ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural ''Grands Prix'') most commonly refers to: * Grand Prix motor racing, a form of motorsport competition ** List of Formula One Grands Prix, an auto-racing championship *** Monaco Grand Prix, the most prestigious ...

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 Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, 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 The 2021 CS Nebelhorn Trophy was held on September 22–25, 2021 in Oberstdorf, Germany. It was part of the 2021–22 ISU Challenger Series. It was also the final qualifying event for the 2022 Winter Olympics. Medals were awarded in the disciplin ...

, 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 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 ...

. Initially assigned to the

2021 Cup of China 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

on the

, Hocke/Kunkel were reassigned to the

2021 Gran Premio d'Italia The 2021 Gran Premio d'Italia was a figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU), organized and hosted by the Italian Ice Sports Federation (), and the third event of the 2021–22 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Sk ...

following the former event's cancellation. They placed eighth in the short program, and then withdrew for medical reasons. In the new year, they finished thirteenth at the

2022 European Championships The 2022 European Championships were the second edition of the European Championships (multi-sport event), European Championships. It was a multi-sport event which took place in Munich, Germany from 11 to 21 August 2022. The event started three d ...

2022–23 season

Before the season, Hocke/Kunkel relocated to

Bergamo Bergamo ( , ; ) is a city in the Alps, alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from the alpine lakes Lake Como, Como and Lake Iseo, Iseo and 70 km (43 mi) from Lake Garda, Garda and Lake ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

with

Ondrej Hotarek Ondrej is a Slovak male given name, equivalent to Andrew. Notable people with the name include: * Ondrej Duda (born 1994), Slovak football player * Ondrej Otčenáš (born 1987), Slovak ice hockey player * Ondrej Nepela (1951–1989), Slovak figure ...

Franca Bianconi Franca Anna Bianconi Manni (born 3 March 1962) is an Italian figure skating coach and former competitor. She competed at the 1980 Winter Olympics. Personal life Bianconi was born on 3 March 1962 in Milan, Italy. She is the mother of Italian ic ...

, and Rosanna Murante becoming their new coaches. They began the season with a bronze medal at the

2022 CS Nebelhorn Trophy The 2022 CS Nebelhorn Trophy was held on September 21–24, 2022, in Oberstdorf, Germany. It was the third event of the 2022–23 ISU Challenger Series. Medals were awarded in men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance. Entrie ...

and a gold medal at the

. Kunkel contracted

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

shortly after the Finlandia Trophy, impeding their preparations for the

, but they were able to compete at their first assignment, the

. They won the bronze medal, their first Grand Prix medal, with Kunkel saying they were "very happy with the outcome." On 15 November, Hocke announced via her

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

that she and Kunkel had withdrawn from the

2022 NHK Trophy The 2022 NHK Trophy was the fifth event of the 2022-23 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating: a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Makomanai Ice Arena in Sapporo, Japan, from November 18-20. Medals were awa ...

due to Hocke testing positive for

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 Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...

, 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. Hocke/Kunkel finished the season at the 2023 World Championships, where they came ninth.

2023–24 season

Hocke/Kunkel began the season by winning the bronze medal at the 2023 CS Lombardia Trophy, finishing behind new domestic rivals

/ Volodin. They went on to win a second Challenger bronze on home soil 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 ...

, finishing 2.70 points behind Italian silver medalists Beccari/ Guarise. Hocke said afterward that they were "very happy with where we are at this point in the season." They were invited to the Shanghai Trophy, taking the silver medal. Beginning on the

at the 2023 Skate America, Hocke/Kunkel narrowly won the short program despite Hocke falling on her triple Salchow attempt. They won the free skate as well, winning their first Grand Prix gold. Hocke recalled her poor experience at the 2018 edition, the site of which she called her "worst free skate ever", saying in turn that it was "so amazing to come back to Skate American like this and even win it!" In the interval between their Grand Prix assignments, Hocke was ill. They finished fourth at the 2023 Cup of China after making multiple errors in both segments. Their placements were sufficient to qualify them to the

Grand Prix Final The Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final – originally known as the Champions Series Final – is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU). It is the culminating event of the Grand Prix Series. Meda ...

in fifth position. However, they were forced to withdraw after Kunkel developed an injury causing "immense" pain. They were replaced by first alternates

Pavlova Pavlova is a meringue-based dessert. Originating in either Australia or New Zealand in the early 20th century, it was named after the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova.Boylen, Jeremy (reporter) (20 August 2004)Pavlova''George Negus Tonight'', Au ...

/ Sviatchenko of Hungary. Kunkel recovered sufficiently for the team to resume practice three weeks before 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 ...

, where they came seventh. He said that they "didn't feel any pressure. We had nothing to lose. Of course, mistakes are annoying. Overall the result is not that bad." The team then finished the season at the 2024 World Championships in

, where they were seventh in the short program with a clean skate. Fifth in the free skate, they rose to fifth overall. Kunkel said that he was pleased that they had "finally" been able to prepare without dealing with injuries, while Hocke called it one of the "competitions you dream of."

2024–25 season

Hocke/Kunkel started the season with a fifth-place finish at the

2024 CS Lombardia Trophy The 2024 CS Lombardia Trophy was held on September 13–15, 2024, in Bergamo, Italy. It was part of the 2024–25 ISU Challenger Series. Medals were awarded in men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance. Entries The Internati ...

. They would go on to compete on the 2024–25 Grand Prix series. At their first Grand Prix event,

2024 Skate Canada International The 2024 Skate Canada International was the second event of the 2024–25 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating: a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, from October 25 ...

, Hocke/Kunkel would place second in the short program but fourth in the free skate, falling to fourth place overall. Kunkel described the event as "a little bit frustrating." They would subsequently finish fourth 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 ...

. In mid-December, Hocke announced that she and Kunkel would miss the 2025 German Championships due to Hocke sustaining a foot injury. Returning to competition 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, Hocke/Kunkel placed fifth in the short program and eighth in the free skate, finishing in eighth place overall. Two months later, they competed 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 eighteenth overall. Reflecting on the season, Hocke shared, "We really need to learn to enjoy competitions again. We love skating, we love training, we love doing run-throughs in practice, not many teams actually enjoy that. But it’s so frustrating when you can’t show it in competition. So we really have to find the joy in competing again."

Programs

Pairs with Kunkel

Pairs with Blommaert

Ladies' singles

Competition results

''GP:

; CS:

; JGP:

Pairs with Kunkel

Pair skating with Ruben Blommaert

Pairs with Gnilozoubov

Ladies' singles

Detailed results

Current personal best scores are highlighted in bold. ''Small medals for short and free programs awarded only at ISU Championships.''

With Kunkel

Senior results

Junior results

With Blommaert

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hocke, Annika 2000 births Living people German female single skaters Olympic figure skaters for Germany Figure skaters at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics Figure skaters at the 2018 Winter Olympics Figure skaters from Berlin 21st-century German sportswomen European Figure Skating Championships medalists