Veronica Wagner

Isabella Minna Veronica Wagner,[1] better known as Veronica (born July 7, 1987), 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 Wagner
Veronica Wagner in June 2010
Personal information
Full name	Isabella Minna Veronica Wagner
Country represented	Sweden
Born	(1987-07-07) July 7, 1987 Stockholm, Sweden
Discipline	Women's artistic gymnastics
Head coach(es)	Staffan Söderberg

Wagner was born in Stockholm, and started gymnastics at the age of 5. She progressed quickly through the sport's levels, qualifying as an international elite at the age of 12. She is Sweden's most successful gymnast, having won the national title 7 times (2002, 2004–2008 and 2011) and represented her country at the Olympics, World Championships and European Championships. She has also been a finalist at several World Cup events and in the 2009 Worlds all-around competition.

Wagner is a powerful and innovative gymnast, particularly on the floor exercise. She pioneered the double piked front, which she successfully competed at the 2006 European Championships. She performed well at these championships, with a score that would have been good enough to place her 13th if an all-around competition had been held. She competed with the Swedish team at the 2006 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, and while the team did not qualify for the 2007 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, which served as qualifiers to the Olympics, Wagner qualified as an individual. She stated in an interview with International Gymnast magazine that her goals for 2007 were to win a World Cup medal and to qualify to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

Wagner achieved both of these goals. At the 2007 World Championships, she qualified to her second Olympic Games 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, Wagner was told that the Swedish Olympic Committee would not send her to Beijing to compete in the Olympic Games. A fan-driven petition was created in protest.[2]

After this disappointment, Wagner continued to compete in gymnastics. At the 2009 World Championships, she qualified to the 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 competition.