Sebastian Sponevik (born March 15, 2005) is an

artistic gymnast Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different types of apparatus. The sport is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), which assigns the '' Code of Points'' used ...

on the Norwegian national team. He is a three-time Norwegian junior champion (2020-2022) and has represented Norway at the

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

and 2022 Nordic Championships, as well as the 2022 European Olympic Youth Festival and

European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

. He is the 2022 silver medalist in the junior European vault final.

Junior career

2019

In 2019, the

Norwegian Gymnastics Federation The Norwegian Gymnastics Federation (, NGTF) is the national gymnastics association in Norway. The Norwegian Gymnastics Federation was founded in 1890 as ''De Norske Turn- og Gymnastikkforeninger'', and gymnastics was the first sport in Norway to ...

(NGTF) required gymnasts competing at national events on a junior level to turn 14 the year the event was held. Thus, Sponevik debuted as a junior at the first of three competitions in the Norwegian Cup that year. He came in third at the event with a score of 70.250.

2020

Due to the

COVID-19 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 ...

, most competitions in the 2020 season were cancelled, including the first two events in the Norwegian Cup. Therefore, the only national appearances Sponevik made were the 2020 junior Norwegian championship in

Tromsø Tromsø is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Tromsø Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The city is the administrative centre of the municipality as well as the administrative centre of Troms county. The city is located on the is ...

and the third event in the Norwegian Cup. He won the All-Around competition at both events with 75.950 and 75.683 points respectively.

2021

Plagued by injuries in his

tibia The tibia (; : tibiae or tibias), also known as the shinbone or shankbone, is the larger, stronger, and anterior (frontal) of the two Leg bones, bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates (the other being the fibula, behind and to the outsi ...

and

wrist In human anatomy, the wrist is variously defined as (1) the carpus or carpal bones, the complex of eight bones forming the proximal skeletal segment of the hand; "The wrist contains eight bones, roughly aligned in two rows, known as the carpal ...

s, Sponevik was unable to compete at competitions in early 2021. After recovering from his injuries, Sponevik went on to win the 2021 Norwegian championship at

Sotra Sotra or Store Sotra is the name of a large island in Øygarden Municipality in Vestland county, Norway, located just west of the city of Bergen. It is part of a pair of islands called ' Sotra' and ' Litlesotra' ('small Sotra') that are part of ...

with a score of 74.500.

2022

Sponevik competed at the 2022 junior Norwegian championship in

Kabelvåg , , or is a village in Vågan Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is located on the southern shore of the island of Austvågøya in the Lofoten archipelago. Kabelvåg lies about to the southwest of the town of Svolvær, the administrat ...

, during which he took home every possible gold medal; All-Around, apparatus finals, and the team competition. He also competed at the 2022 International Junior Team Cup in

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, and the 2022 European Olympic Youth Festival under the guidance of national team coach Robert Hirsch. At the latter competition, Sponevik attained an eighth place in the All-Around competition and a sixth place in the floor finals. In August 2022, Sponevik competed in the

2022 European Men's Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 35th European Men's Artistic Gymnastics Championships was held from 18 to 21 August 2022 in Munich, Germany as part of the 2022 European Championships, second multi-sport European Championships. There were 38 nations that sent athletes. Gym ...

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. Whilst competing in the all-around competition, Sponevik qualified for the vault final, during which he won a silver medal with an average score of 14.316. He was the first Norwegian to do so since former gymnast Åge Storhaug's European silver medal in 1965.

Senior career

Though only 17 years old at the time, Sponevik competed as a senior at the 2022 Norwegian Championship in

Elverum Elverum () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Østerdalen. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Elverum ( ...

, making it his debut as a senior. At the event, which was held in June 2022, Sponevik secured a bronze for his All-Around performance, along with two gold, a silver, and a bronze in the apparatus finals.

2023

Sponevik competed at the 2023 FIG world challenge cup in

Varna Varna may refer to: Places Europe *Varna, Bulgaria, a city ** Varna Province ** Varna Municipality ** Gulf of Varna ** Lake Varna **Varna Necropolis * Vahrn, or Varna, a municipality in Italy * Varna (Šabac), a village in Serbia Asia * Var ...

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alongside teammates

Sofus Heggemsnes Sofus Heggemsnes (born 13 July 1999) is a Norwegian artistic gymnast who competed at the 2017, 2018, and 2019 World Championships. He represented Norway at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. He is a four-time Northern European champion, a ...

and Jacob Karlsen. Sponevik qualified among the six best vaulters, and he subsequently won a silver in the apparatus final. It was a strong competition for the Norwegian team, as Heggemsnes won the first world cup gold in Norwegian history in the high bar final, while the 18-year-old Sponevik won his first world cup medal as a first-year senior.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sponevik, Sebastian 2005 births Living people Norwegian male artistic gymnasts People from Jessheim Sportspeople from Lørenskog 21st-century Norwegian sportsmen