From the sidelines to the Grand Prix Final - Nina Pinzarrone's breakout season: 'I never would have thought this would happen'
The 17-year-old Belgian nabbed two medals in her Grand Prix Series debut this season, joining established countrywoman Loena Hendrickx at the elite figure skating event. Get to know the teen.
Figure Skating
A year after she sat out the Grand Prix Series due to a hip injury, Nina Pinzarrone had extra reason to celebrate for her 17th birthday last month: She had successfully qualified for the Grand Prix Final.
Pinzarrone spent her birthday (24 November) weekend earning the bronze medal at NHK Trophy, three weeks after a silver – on debut – at Grand Prix de France.
“At the beginning of this season I never would have thought this would happen; but I'm so excited and super happy,” Pinzarrone told reporters in Osaka, Japan, after her NHK bronze. “This season really motivates me to keep pushing harder and achieving even better results.”
Her qualification for this weekend’s (7-10 December) Final made her the second Belgian woman to book a spot at the exclusive event in the history of its staging. The other? That would be current world bronze medallist Loena Hendrickx, who will also compete in Beijing.
“Since I was little I've looked up to her,” Pinzarrone said of Hendrickx, who is a two-time Olympian at 24. “I'm just happy to be in competitions and enjoy it with her.”
“I'm really happy that a little country like Belgium has two skaters in the Grand Prix Final,” she added, smiling. “Little Belgium has two spots; so I'm really proud of us.”
Nina Pinzarrone: 'She has class on the ice'
The Belgian junior champion in 2022, Pinzarrone works with longtime coach Ans Bocklandt, and the last three seasons has had her programs done by well-known choreographer Benoit Richaud.
“She is talented in many areas: she can jump well, her pirouettes are very good and she is flexible and elegant,” Bocklandt told the Belgian outlet Sporza earlier this year. “She has class on the ice.”
After recovering from her hip injury setback, she soared to fifth place on debut at the European Championships in January before claiming 11th at Worlds in March last season.
Her silver medal at Grand Prix de France made her just the second Belgian woman – again, joining Hendrickx – to land on a GP podium. “It doesn’t feel real,” she said after the competition.
Last month, before she added her NHK performance and subsequent GPF berth, she notched a first senior national title in Belgium in Hendrickx’s absence.
“I am so happy to show everyone what I can do and what I am capable of,” she said in September.
The Brussels native trains in Antwerp, but has done stints with Richaud and his team in France, where she’s shared practice ice with Adam Siao Him Fa, the three-time Grand Prix winner.
Her programs this season, set to the soundtracks of W.E. and Spartacus, offer two differing styles, a collaboration with Richaud that Pinzarrone said has helped her progression in her young career.
“Benoît has a unique and fascinating approach to choreography; he is passionate about what he does,” Pinzarrone said. “He aims to create a perfect choreography that suits me and one I feel comfortable with. I love working with him.”
Dreaming of... Milano Cortina 2026
With her breakthrough into the senior international scene well underway this season, there are bigger goals and dreams the teen has in mind, including Milano Cortina 2026.
Her father is Italian, adding an extra layer of meaning to the approaching Olympic Winter Games in Italy.
“To be at my best at the 2026 and 2030 Winter Olympics is a dream,” Pinzarrone told Sporza in January.
Her personal best score of 198.80 would have landed her on the podium at all six Grand Prix stops this season, meaning she’ll be in the mix among Hendrickx, two-time and reigning world champion Sakamoto Kaori and Isabeau Levito, her American peer.
But it’s a new, bigger stage at the Final for the newly 17-year-old, who said “it’s a joy to compete” in front of an arena full of fans.
For some fans in figure skating, Pinzarrone’s splash has come as a surprise. But it’s a quiet determination, her coach says, that makes her well-suited to continue such progress.
“She is indeed rather modest and introverted, but she goes for it,” Bocklandt said. “She doesn't always show it, but she is a bit of a competitive animal.”
Pinzarrone isn’t afraid of the labour ahead: “I want to keep improving,” she said after NHK. “And I'm really excited to keep working.”