Niki Angeneta Wories (born 18 June 1996) is a Dutch figure skater. A six-time Dutch national champion, she has won five senior international medals and qualified for the free skate at three ISU Championships.
Personal life
Niki Wories was born on 18 June 1996 in Almere, Netherlands.[1] She is the second daughter of Annelies and Paul Wories.[2] She studied at the Johan Cruyff Academy before moving to Quebec, Canada.[2] Following her initial retirement in 2022, Wories moved back to the Netherlands.[3]
Wories began skating in 2001 and her first coach was Astrid Tameling-Winkelman, who trained her in Dordrecht.[1][5] Wories first debuted internationally at the 2007 Merano Cup as a novice skater, where she finished nineteenth. She would go on to finish sixteenth at the 2009 International Challenge Cup the following season.[6]
In March 2012, Wories debuted on the international junior level at the 2012 Coupe du Printemps, where she placed twenty-third. She subsequently finished eighteenth at the 2012 NRW Trophy.[6]
She debuted on the ISU Junior Grand Prix series in August 2013, finishing twenty-fourth at 2013 JGP Latvia. She subsequently went on to compete on the junior level at the 2013 NRW Trophy and the 2014 Bavarian Open, placing fifteenth and fourteenth, respectively.[6]
In February, Wories won senior bronze medals at the Bavarian Open and International Challenge Cup, where she also achieved the minimum technical score to compete at the senior World Championships.[10] In March, she qualified for the free skate at the 2015 World Junior Championships in Tallinn, Estonia by placing fifteenth in the short program; she finished twenty-third overall.[6][9] Later that month, she competed at the 2015 World Championships in Shanghai, China – the first Dutch competitor at Worlds since 2010.[11] Ranked thirty-second in the short program, she did not make the cut for the free skate.[6][9]
In December 2016, Wories underwent two operations due to bursitis in her foot.[12] Having sustained a concussion that same month, she decided not to compete at the 2017 European Championships.[13][14] According to a February 2017 report, she has sustained five concussions.[15]
Although Wories was scheduled to make her World Championship return post-injury in 2020 in Montreal, but these were cancelled as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.[18]
2020–2021 season
Wories' only competition was at the 2020 Ice Star, where she completed the short program but withdrew before the free skate.[6]
Wories' retirement from competition was announced on May 17, 2022. She was subsequently appointed the figure skating discipline manager for the Koninklijke Nederlandsche Schaatsenrijders Bond (Royal Dutch Ice Skaters Association).[19]
2024–2025 season: Return to competition
In August 2024, at the age of twenty-eight, Wories announced her plans of returning to competitive figure skating after two and a half years of not competing. Regarding her decision, Wories said, "Life is unpredictable and sometimes takes you to places you didn't know you would go to. I realize that the ice is a place where I feel good. And whether I achieve anything with it, sport-wise or not, I don't care. It gives me peace of mind." She also announced that she would be coached by Thomas Kennes in Breda. For her free program, Wories specifically selected music from the Gladiator soundtrack in tribute to her late mother since this music was played during her funeral the year prior.[20][21][22][23]
She started the season by competing at the 2024 CS Budapest Trophy in early October, where she placed ninth, earning a personal best free skate and combined total scores.[6] In an interview following the event, she stated that her main goal for the season was to compete at the European Championships.[4] Two weeks later, Wories would deliver even stronger performances and score higher at the 2024 CS Nepela Memorial, where she finished in fourth place. She followed these results up by winning bronze at the 2024 Tirnavia Ice Cup, silver at the 2024 NRW Trophy, as well as another silver medal at the 2024 Santa Claus Cup. In early December, Wories would come in eighth place at the 2024 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb.[6]
^"Kunstschaatster Niki Wories niet naar EK" [Figure skater Niki Wories won't compete at European Championships]. Omroep Flevoland (in Dutch). 18 January 2017. Archived from the original on 19 January 2017.