Veronica Wagner

Veronica Wagner

Isabella Minna Veronica Wagner, better known as Veronica, (born July 7, 1987 in Stockholm, Sweden), is a Gymnast who competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics as a member of the Swedish Olympic team. She is coached by Staffan Söderberg.

Veronica started Gymnastics at the age of 5 and progressed quickly through the sports levels, qualifying as an International Elite at the age of 12. Veronica is Sweden's most successful gymnast, having won the national title 7 times (2002, 2004–2008 and 2011) as well as representing her country at Olympic, World Championship and European Championship level. Veronica has also been a finalist at several World Cup events and the 2009 World All Around Final.

Veronica is a powerful and innovative gymnast, particularly on the floor exercise where she has pioneered the double picked front which she successfully competed at the 2006 European Gymnastics Championships. She performed well at this competition, with a score that would have been good enough to place her 13th if an All Around competition was held. Veronica competed with the Swedish team at the 2006 World Gymnastics Championships, and while the Swedish Team did not qualify for the 2007 World Gymnastics Championships, serving as qualifiers to the Olympics, Veronica qualified as an individual to compete. Veronica stated in an interview with International Gymnast Magazine that her goals for 2007 were to win a World Cup Medal and qualify to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

Veronica achieved both of these goals. At the 2007 Gymnastics World Championships, Veronica qualified to her second Olympic games, placing high enough to qualify as an individual competitor for Sweden. She also had World Cup success in 2007. She won the silver medal on Vault at the Maribor World Cup, held in Slovenia and two Gold medals (Vault and Balance Beam) and a Bronze (Floor) at the Buenos Aires World Cup.

After winning the Swedish Championships in June 2008, Veronica was told that the Swedish Olympic Committee would not send her to the Beijing to compete in the Olympic Games. A fan-driven petition was created in protest.

After this disappointment, Wagner continued to compete in gymnastics. At the 2009 World Championships, she qualified to the World All Around final for the first time in her career.

For the 2012 Olympics she was contracted by Swedish national television as a commentator for the Gymnastics.