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 types of apparatus. The sport is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), which assigns the '' Code of Points'' used ...

who competed at the

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, and 2019 World Championships. He represented

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

at the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. He is a four-time

Northern European The northern region of Europe has several definitions. A restrictive definition may describe northern Europe as being roughly north of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which is about 54°N, or may be based on other geographical factors s ...

champion, as well as a World Cup bronze medalist.

Early life

Heggemsnes was born in

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

to a Swedish father of Jamaican and

Trinidadian Trinidadians and Tobagonians, colloquially known as Trinis or Trinbagonians, are the people who are identified with the country of Trinidad and Tobago. The population of Trinidad is notably diverse, with approximately 35% Indo-Trinidadian, 34% ...

descent, and a Norwegian mother who was born in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. 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, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

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

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, placing 42nd in the all-around during qualifications. Later that year, he competed at the 2016 Northern European Championships in

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...

, 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 Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

, placing seventh in the pommel horse final. He went on to compete at his first

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 ...

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, but did not make any finals. In 2018, he competed at the

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 ...

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, and the

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, 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 Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

. He also had success at the 2019 Northern European Championships in

Kópavogur Kópavogur () is a town in Iceland that is the country's second-largest municipality by population. It lies immediately south of Reykjavík and is part of the Capital Region (Iceland), Capital Region. The name literally means ''seal pup inlet''. ...

, winning the all-around title with a score of 80.950, and helping Norway take the team gold ahead of

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

and

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. 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 German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

where he placed 51st all-around in qualifications, scoring 79.623. His performance at the World Championships earned him an individual spot at the

. 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

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Heggemsnes, Sofus 1999 births Living people Gymnasts 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 sportsmen