Viktoria Helgesson

Viktoria Helgesson (born 13 September 1988) is a retired Swedish figure skater. She is the 2011 Skate America bronze medalist, a five-time (2008–11, 2013) Nordic champion, and an eight-time (2007–12, 2014–15) Swedish national champion. She placed fifth at three European Championships. Her bronze medal at 2011 Skate America is the first Grand Prix medal by a Swedish skater.[1]

Viktoria Helgesson
Helgesson at the 2013–14 Swedish Championships.
Personal information
Country represented	Sweden
Born	(1988-09-13) 13 September 1988 Tibro, Sweden
Height	1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
Former coach	Regina Jensen, Christina Helgesson, Alexander Vedenin
Former choreographer	Catarina Lindgren, Susanne Seger
Skating club	Tibro KK
Training locations	Tibro
Former training locations	Skara, Lidköping, Chicago, Boston
Began skating	1991
Retired	April 2015
ISU personal best scores
Combined total	166.39 2015 Europeans
Short program	60.37 2015 Europeans
Free skate	106.02 2015 Europeans

Personal life

Viktoria Helgesson was born in Tibro, Sweden.[2] Her younger sister, Joshi Helgesson, and their mother, Christina, have also competed in figure skating at the European Championships.[3][4][5] She also has an older brother named Lukas and a father named Lenart.[6]

Career

Helgesson began skating at the age of three, following in the footsteps of her mother.[3] She is coached by her mother and Regina Jensen.[4][5] At the age of 12, she landed her first triple jump, a Salchow.[3]

Helgesson competed at the 2004 World Junior Championships, where she came in 22nd. In 2007, she won the Swedish national title for the first time at the senior level. She again competed at Junior Worlds, finishing 28th.

In 2008, Helgesson made her European Championships and World Championships debut, and came in 18th at both events. She improved upon her result at the 2009 European Championships, but failed to qualify for the free skate at that season's Worlds, and was thus unable to qualify an Olympic berth for Sweden.

In 2010, Helgesson finished 11th at the Europeans. Two months later, she improved her personal best by 19 points to finish tenth at Worlds.[7] She consequently received two Grand Prix assignments in the 2010–11 season, the first of her career; she finished 9th at the 2010 NHK Trophy and 6th at that season's Skate America. She medalled at two international events, the 2010 Nebelhorn Trophy and the 2010 Merano Cup, and improved to 6th at the European Championships, the best finish by a Swedish figure skater since 1932.[8] She was 17th at the 2011 World Championships.

In addition to Sweden, Helgesson also trained in Colorado and Boston.[9][10] She began the 2011–12 season at the 2011 Nebelhorn Trophy, where she finished 5th. In October 2011, Helgesson won the bronze medal at the 2011 Skate America, her first medal at a Grand Prix event, as well as the first by any Swedish skater.[1] She achieved a career-best European placement, 5th, at the 2012 and 2013 European Championships.

Helgesson represented Sweden at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.[11] She placed fifth at the 2015 European Championships in Stockholm, Sweden. In April 2015, she retired from competition.[12]

Programs

Season	Short program	Free skating	Exhibition
2014–2015 [2]	This Woman's Work by Kate Bush	Sunset Boulevard by Andrew Lloyd Webber	Eye of the Tiger by Survivor
2013–2014 [13]	Mystery Waltz by Laeroport de Biarritz Suite for Variety Orchestra: Waltz (from Eyes Wide Shut) by Dmitri Shostakovich	Harem Cobra Goddess by Les Baxter Harem Silks from Bombay
2012–2013 [14]	Poinciana	Spellbound Concerto by Miklós Rózsa
2011–2012 [15]	My Funny Valentine performed by Ahn Trio	Sunset Boulevard by Andrew Lloyd Webber	Someone like You by Adele
2010–2011 [16]	Fuori Dal Mondo (from This Is England) by Ludovico Einaudi Nessun dorma (from Turandot) Giacomo Puccini	The Drummer by Trey Lee Sad Romance by Thảo Nguyên Xanh August Rhapsody (from August Rush) by Mark Mancina
2009–2010 [17]	Fuori Dal Mondo (from This Is England) by Ludovico Einaudi	One Moment in Time by Albert Hammond, John Bettis performed by Vanessa-Mae Finale di un concerto interotto per violin (from Canone Inverso) by Ennio Morricone
2008–2009 [18]	Think of Me (from Phantom of the Opera) by Andrew Lloyd Webber The Phantom of the Opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber	One Moment in Time Finale di un concerto interotto per violin
2007–2008 [3][19]	The Rose by Floyd Cramer	Assassin's Tango (from Mr. & Mrs. Smith) by John Powell Pasha performed by Vanessa-Mae Assassin's Tango
2006–2007 [20]	Nothing Else Matters by Metallica performed by Apocalyptica	Assassin's Tango Pasha Assassin's Tango
2005–2006 [21]	Nothing Else Matters by Metallica performed by Apocalyptica	Paganini's Caprice Despues De Ti Que by Christian Castro, Raul di Blasio Paganini's Caprice
2004–2005 [22]	Lawrence of Arabia by Maurice Jarre	Etude in C Minor – Opus 25 by Frédéric Chopin Theme from Somewhere in Time by John Barry Rhapsoday on a Theme of Paganini by Sergei Rachmaninov Fantasie Impromptu Op. 66 by Frédéric Chopin
2003–2004 [23]	Lawrence of Arabia by Maurice Jarre	Riverdance by Bill Whelan

Competitive highlights

Helgesson at the 2010 World Championships

GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series (began in the 2014–15 season); JGP: Junior Grand Prix

International[24]
Event	02–03	03–04	04–05	05–06	06–07	07–08	08–09	09–10	10–11	11–12	12–13	13–14	14–15
Olympics												27th
Worlds						18th	27th	10th	17th	11th	14th
Europeans						18th	14th	11th	6th	5th	5th	14th	5th
GP Bompard										5th		7th
GP Cup of China													7th
GP NHK Trophy									9th
GP Rostelecom											8th
GP Skate America									6th	3rd	8th	8th
GP Skate Canada													11th
CS Lombardia													8th
CS Nepela Trophy												4th	4th
Challenge Cup						5th	1st			4th
Cup of Nice					3rd			8th
Finlandia						11th		9th
Golden Spin							5th
Karl Schäfer							5th
Merano Cup								5th	1st
Nebelhorn									2nd	5th	6th
Nordics		2nd J.	6th J.		6th	1st	1st	1st	1st		1st	2nd
NRW Trophy								10th		1st	3rd
International: Junior[24]
Junior Worlds		22nd			28th
JGP Austria						8th
JGP Bulgaria						4th
JGP Czech Rep.		12th
JGP Germany			17th
JGP Hungary			14th
JGP Slovakia				16th
Copenhagen	1st J.	5th J.
Gardena		4th J.
Golden Bear	4th J.
Mladost Trophy	5th J.
National[24]
Swedish Champ.		1st J.	3rd J.	2nd	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	2nd	1st	1st
J. = Junior level; WD = Withdrew

References

1. Rutherford, Lynn (23 October 2011). "Czisny edges Kostner for first Skate America title". IceNetwork. Retrieved 24 October 2011.
2. "Viktoria HELGESSON: 2014/2015". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 10 April 2015.
3. Mittan, Barry (18 March 2008). "Following in Her Mothers' Footsteps". SkateToday. Retrieved 6 August 2011.
4. Jangbro, Eva Maria (26 April 2011). "The Helgesson sisters Viktoria and Joshi: Alike but Different". Absolute Skating. Retrieved 4 May 2011.
5. Luchianov, Vladislav (6 July 2012). "Sweden's Helgessons keep it all in the family". IceNetwork.
6. Jonsson, Jan. "Seg fotskada stör drömmen om EM". Sydsvenskan. Sydsvenskan. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
7. Kondakova, Anna (27 March 2010). "Asada recaptures World title". Golden Skate. Retrieved 27 October 2011.
8. Björn, Thomas (9 February 2011). "Viktoria Helgesson laddar inför the Nordics med nya skridskor" [Viktoria Helgesson gears up for the Nordics with new skates] (in Swedish). Swedish Figure Skating Association. Retrieved 27 October 2011.
9. Jangbro, Eva Maria (23 October 2011). "Viktoria Helgesson: "Why not try something new"". Absolute Skating. Retrieved 27 October 2011.
10. Jangbro, Eva Maria (20 January 2012). "Viktoria Helgesson "I know I have a great skating foundation now"". Absolute Skating.
11. "Viktoria HELGESSON". Organizing Committee of the XXII Olympic Winter Games. Archived from the original on 20 March 2014.
12. Ek, Elin (8 April 2015). "Viktoria Helgesson lägger skridskorna på hyllan" [Viktoria Helgesson retires from competition]. Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish).
13. "Viktoria HELGESSON: 2013/2014". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 4 June 2014.
14. "Viktoria HELGESSON: 2012/2013". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 12 March 2013.
15. "Viktoria HELGESSON: 2011/2012". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 21 January 2012.
16. "Viktoria HELGESSON: 2010/2011". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 16 August 2011.
17. "Viktoria HELGESSON: 2009/2010". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 5 May 2010.
18. "Viktoria HELGESSON: 2008/2009". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 31 May 2009.
19. "Viktoria HELGESSON: 2007/2008". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 26 May 2008.
20. "Viktoria HELGESSON: 2006/2007". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 1 July 2007.
21. "Viktoria HELGESSON: 2005/2006". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 23 May 2006.
22. "Viktoria HELGESSON: 2004/2005". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 8 March 2005.
23. "Viktoria HELGESSON: 2003/2004". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 4 June 2004.
24. "Competition Results: Viktoria HELGESSON". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 10 April 2015.

External links

• Viktoria Helgesson official website
• Viktoria Helgesson at the International Skating Union