Finnish skating news, 2018 onwards

[Jeschke]

Virtanen appears to be competing for 2019-20, with 2 new programs, no less.

The doc is determined!

 

[IDC a.k.a. Ritti]

Finnish Figure Skating Association announced the singles skating national team for the 2019-20 season today. No major surprises there, but I'm glad to see Roman Galay and Jenni Saarinen back in the national team (they had not been selected for the 2018-19 season).
Milania Väänänen is no longer in the list, so I guess she has turned into pairs for good.
Selma Välitalo seems to be injured, and she might be considered to be added to the national team after a test skate of some sort for her in October.
https://www.stll.fi/2019/05/24/yksinluistelun-maajoukkueet-nimetty/

Cecilia Törn announced on Instagram today that she has retired as a competitive skater. She seems to have been coaching and/or choreographing at various rinks in Finland this spring. As for Jussiville Partanen's plans, I don't know if he has found himself a new partner yet.

 

[Sylvia]

06/12/2019
Viveca Lindfors is a sportsman of the year in Helsinki
Viveca Lindfors, the European bronze medalist of women's figure skating, has been selected as Helsinki Athlete of the Year. The Helsinki Athlete of the Year will award a scholarship of EUR 10,000, which will be distributed annually on Helsinki Day. Lindfors receives its prize at the Helsinki Day concert in Kaisaniemi.

Viveca Lindfors vuoden helsinkiläisurheilija - Suomen Taitoluisteluliitto ry

Naisten taitoluistelun EM-pronssimitalisti Viveca Lindfors on valittu vuoden helsinkiläisurheilijaksi. Vuoden helsinkiläisurheilija kuittaa valinnastaan 10 000 euron stipendin, joka jaetaan vuosittain Helsinki-päivänä. Lindfors vastaanottaa palkintonsa Helsinki-päivän konsertissa Kaisaniemessä.

www.stll.fi

Congrats to Viveca! Yesterday she also received 2 Grand Prix assignments in the initial selection round for the first time: Cup of China & NHK Trophy.

Juulia Turkkila / Matthias Versluis were invited to Rostelecom Cup.

 

[Sylvia]

Finnish Figure Skating Association announced the singles skating national team for the 2019-20 season today. No major surprises there, but I'm glad to see Roman Galay and Jenni Saarinen back in the national team (they had not been selected for the 2018-19 season).
Milania Väänänen is no longer in the list, so I guess she has turned into pairs for good.
Selma Välitalo seems to be injured, and she might be considered to be added to the national team after a test skate of some sort for her in October.

2019-20 National team (singles skaters) with individual profile pages: https://www.stll.fi/maajoukkue/maajoukkue-esittely/yksinluistelu/
Juulia Turkkila - Matthias Versluis are the only ice dance team.

Cecilia Törn announced on Instagram today that she has retired as a competitive skater.

Her May 24th IG post in Finnish & English: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bx2CUNgHXx4/

 

[nimi]

Recently there has been some good money news for Finnish figure skating:

Last month the NOC gave money for Olympic winter sports for the upcoming season. Figure skating (mainly the top female skaters plus T/V) got 110k to invest in coaching etc.

https://www.olympiakomitea.fi/uploads/2019/06/b201e1df-koonti-tukipaatoksista_kevat-2019.pdf

Earlier this week, the Ministry of Education and Sports announced their annual tax-free stipends for selected Olympic winter sports athletes. There are 3 tiers: 20k, 10k and 6k. Viveca became the first figure skater since Kiira who was awarded the 20k stipend. Juulia and Matthias got 10k each, while Emmi and Jenni got 6k.

Sata talvilajien urheilijaa sai apurahan â yllättävä nimi ja laji listan kärjessä, tuki naisten jääkiekkomitalisteille jatkuu

Viveca Lindfors, Rene Rinnekangas ja Jimi Salonen ovat uudet nimet, joiden varaan Suomen talvikisamenestystä rakennetaan.

yle.fi

Also, the Synchro Worlds held in Helsinki last April (where the Finnish teams got silver and bronze) produced a surplus around 600 000 €. The Fed is happy!

Muodostelmaluistelun MM-kilpailut taloudellisesti plussalle – kisavieraista 97 prosenttia tyytyväisiä tapahtuman tunnelmaan - Suomen Taitoluisteluliitto ry

Suomen Taitoluisteluliiton järjestämät muodostelmaluistelun MM-kilpailut onnistuivat loistavin arvosanoin ja toivat lajiliitolle positiivisen taloudellisen tuloksen. Huhtikuun 12.–13. järjestetyn tapahtuman tulos oli noin 600 000 euroa. Järjestelyjen lisäksi onnistumisia saavutettiin myös...

www.stll.fi

 

[Sylvia]

According to these Finnish news articles, YLE has lost their ISU figure skating TV rights to the NENT Group starting this fall through the spring of 2023?

Yle menetti jälleen yhden suomalaisten suosikkilajin tv-oikeudet

NENT Groupin kanavat näyttävät jatkossa luistelulajien kansainvälisiä kilpailuja.

www.is.fi

Kansainväliset taito- ja pikaluistelukilpailut lähtevät Yleltä, näkyvät syksyllä kaupallisilla kanavilla

Luistelua esitetään syksystä alkaen Viasatin urheilukanavilla.

www.hs.fi

 

[Sylvia]

I posted back on Oct. 31, 2018:

2017 & 2018 Junior men's champion Benjam Papp, now 19, is listed on IPS for pairs: [link has since been removed]

He's now 6 feet tall?! He was listed at 175 cm in his ISU bio last season: http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs00102403.htm

I checked his ISU bio and Benjam, now 20, last competed internationally in February 2018 (6th in Junior at Sofia Trophy).

Yesterday, Benjam posted on his IG "Due to reasons out of my control I have to say Goodbye to the sport I have dedicated twelve years of my life to, Figure Skating": https://www.instagram.com/p/B1kzGhwB7jm/
Excerpt from the end:

There is one more person who deserves an extra special thank you and that's my brother, Béla. As many of you know has been my role model and my inspiration for skating, He has been the person who I've always been able to confide in and also look up to, not just in skating but also in life. He's the greatest role model I could have ever asked for, he's one of the reasons why I know I can succeed in life after skating. Don't get me wrong though I'm still mad at him for never letting me compete against him. Skating has taught me an incredible amount of things about myself that I would not have learnt otherwise. But for now I have to say a bitter goodbye. Ending on a positive note I will be starting my culinary journey at The Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts!

All the best to him in the next stage of his life!

 

[kwanfan1818]

Oh, I remember Benjam Papp as a young skater at BC Summerskate. Best of luck to him, and I hope to eat his food someday, maybe sooner than later: Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts has a restaurant!

 

[Elka]

Jussi-Ville Partanen has a new partner, Arina Klinovitskaya. There are pictures of them on her Instagram, which you can find with the help of Google. I do not know how to link it. They have been training in Lyon during the summer. That info was on a Russian forum. She has been a single skater in Finland earlier and then trained to be a coach at Vierumaki, so she is not a recent import from Russia and probably has a Finnish passport. I presume her parents have been working in Finland for some time. New to ice dance, so Jussi-Ville has started again with a new single skater.

 

[IDC a.k.a. Ritti]

Viveca Lindfors matkalla täyteen iskuun | SkatingFinland

Rasitusvammasta toipuva EM-pronssimitalisti Viveca Lindfors ei aio hötkyillä kauden aloituksessaan. Syksyn päätähtäin on marraskuun GP-kilpailuissa.

www.skatingfinland.fi

Viveca Lindfors says the strain injury she has suffered since early this year isn't fully healed yet. She has been able to train somewhat during the summer; she had a new SP done by Shanetta Folle, and during her stay in St. Petersburg in July-August she worked on basic skating and on her programs with an ice dance coach.
"Rehabilitation is still in the process, and I haven't been able to train fully in the off-season, but in the near future I hope to."
"At the moment my focus is on recovering fully and on getting back to my own level. Only then we'll think about details. I would really love to skate at Finlandia Trophy if they let me!"

 

[nimi]

"At the moment my focus is on recovering fully and on getting back to my own level. Only then we'll think about details. I would really love to skate at Finlandia Trophy if they let me!"

Stress fracture in the back sounds very scary; good thing that they seem to have detected it at an early stage! I sure hope Viveca doesn't push herself too much too soon... She is included in the Finlandia Trophy line-up, announced a couple of days ago:

Suomen joukkue Finlandia Trophy Espoo -kilpailussa 11.-13.10. - Suomen Taitoluisteluliitto ry

Suomen joukkue Finlandia Trophy Espoo -kilpailussa 11.-13.10.2019.

www.stll.fi

women: Viveca Lindfors, Jenni Saarinen, Sofia Sula
men: Roman Galay, Valtter Virtanen
dance: Juulia Turkkila – Matthias Versluis, Yuka Orihara – Juho Pirinen

 

[Finnice]

Not really Finnish skating news,but the Ice Hockey team Jokerit has hired Viktor Kraatz (CAN) for the skating coach for their junior ice hockey players. Viktor's wife Maikki Uotila is from Finland.

And nobody knows what is going on with Emmi Peltonen.

 

[nimi]

And nobody knows what is going on with Emmi Peltonen.

I checked Emmi's IG and she posted some practice footage few days ago, but yeah, IDK. It looks like her competitive season is supposed to start in November (Volvo Open Cup). She announced her new FS (Vinegar & Salt by Hooverphonic, choreo Mark Pillay) in June and the national monitoring camp was held in early August, maybe they just thought she needs more time? (It looks like she was off ice for 6 weeks in spring, so maybe she's been dealing with injury or something?)

[Viveca] is included in the Finlandia Trophy line-up, announced a couple of days ago:

Suomen joukkue Finlandia Trophy Espoo -kilpailussa 11.-13.10. - Suomen Taitoluisteluliitto ry

Suomen joukkue Finlandia Trophy Espoo -kilpailussa 11.-13.10.2019.

www.stll.fi

women: Viveca Lindfors, Jenni Saarinen, Sofia Sula
men: Roman Galay, Valtter Virtanen
dance: Juulia Turkkila – Matthias Versluis, Yuka Orihara – Juho Pirinen

Other CS and senior B assignments announced this far:

CS Lombardia (Sep 13th-15th): Jenni Saarinen, Roman Galay, T/V, O/P

CS Nepela (Sep 19th-21st): O/P

Int. Halloween Cup (Oct 17th-20th): Linnea Ceder, Laura Karhunen

CS Minsk (Oct 18th-20th): Vera Stolt, Oona Ounasvuori, T/V

Golden Bear (Oct 23rd-27th): Viveca Lindfors, Sofia Sula

Crystal Skate (Oct 24th-28th): Minttu Heikkinen

Tirnavia Ice Cup (Oct 31st - Nov 3rd): Vera Stolt

Volvo Open (Nov 6th-11th): Emmi Peltonen, O/P

Cup of Tyrol (Nov 8th-13th): Valtter Virtanen

Tallinn Trophy (Nov 10th-17th): Vera Stolt, Linnea Ceder, Sofia Sula, Laura Karhunen, O/P

Tapahtumakalenteri - Suomen Taitoluisteluliitto ry

www.stll.fi

 

[nimi]

So much skating happened over the weekend... A quick recap:

Linnea became the first Finnish girl this JGP season to make the top10: 8th/145.66

Linnea Ceder (FIN) | Ladies Short Program | Chelyabinsk 2019

Visit https://isu.org/JuniorGrandPrix for more information on the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating. LADES SHORT PROGRAM START ORDER 10:15:00 - 10:21:0...

youtu.be

Linnea Ceder (FIN) | Ladies Free Skating | Chelyabinsk 2019

Visit https://isu.org/JuniorGrandPrix for more information on the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating. LADIES FREE SKATING START ORDER 14:00:00 - 14:06:0...

youtu.be

In Lombardia, Jenni had a promising SP (6th, 57.66) and her FS started strong but then went downhill: she finished 9th with 161.64 points.

In a rather surprising turn of events, Roman delivered two solid skates, got his TES minimums for Worlds (yay!) and placed ahead of Lazukin and Kazuki Tomono to snatch some WS points: 6th/203.52 (NEW FINNISH RECORD btw - congrats!)

Roman GALAY FIN Short Program 2019 Lombardia Trophy

Roman GALAY FIN Short Program 2019 Lombardia Trophy #RomanGalay #LombardiaTrophy2019

youtu.be

Roman GALAY FIN Free Skate 2019 Lombardia Trophy

Roman GALAY FIN Free Skate 2019 Lombardia Trophy #RomanGalay #LombardiaTrophy2019

youtu.be

T/V withdrew from Lombardia (dunno why) but Orihara/Pirinen made their competitive debut there: 11th/147.48

Yuka Orihara & Juho Pirinen - 2019 Lombardia Trophy RD

Score: 57.94.

youtu.be

Yuka Orihara & Juho Pirinen - 2019 Lombardia Trophy FD

Score: 90.54.

youtu.be

 

[Hanna]

T/V withdrew from Lombardia (dunno why) but Orihara/Pirinen made their debut there: 11th/147.48

Apparently an injury happened at practice before the RD. Hope it's nothing serious.

I rarely get at all excited about the Finnish men but I have to admit I was really impressed by Galay! That 3a is suddenly looking very good and consistent. And he didn't fall apart like he usually does but kept going and skated really well, in both programs.

Orihara/Pirinen looked really nice for only having skated together for 4 months. She seems like quite the personality.

And a promising start for Saarinen, too. Maybe needs a bit more conditioning and more competitions so that she can stay focused for a 4-minute program. She's been through so much that at this point I just hope that, most of all, she can keep her love for skating.

 

[nimi]

A former national competitor has told Yle about her #metoo experiences with a male coach:

SM-tason taitoluistelija kertoo valmentajansa ahdistelleen seksuaalisesti â arvostettu valmentaja kiistää ja jatkaa työssään

Yhdeksänvuotiaana tunnetun valmentajan alaisuuteen siirtynyt taitoluistelija kertoo seksuaalisesta ahdistelusta. Mies toimii edelleen taitoluisteluvalmentajana.

yle.fi

Very short version of the story: "Kati" (not her actual name) was a minor when the (alleged) grooming & inappropriate behavior was going on. She's now an adult. Later on, another former skater contacted her and told about similar experiences with the same coach. This second skater contacted the Fed about it, but because she wasn't prepared to give up her anonymity, the Fed basically said there's nothing they can do. The two women also contacted SUEK aka FINCIS (Finnish Center for Integrity in Sports), who had the same response and did nothing. The coach, whose name or location isn't disclosed in the article and who says he never harassed his students, is still coaching.

Fed's response:

Teemme kaikkemme rohkaistaksemme seksuaalista ahdistelua kokeneita olemaan yhteydessä viranomaisiin - Suomen Taitoluisteluliitto ry

Yle on tänään 18.9.2019 uutisoinut entisen SM-tason taitoluistelijan kohtaamasta seksuaalisesta ahdistelusta valmennustilanteissa. Olemme syvästi pahoillamme siitä, että tavoitteemme taitoluistelusta iloa tuovana ja turvallisena harrastuksena ei ole nyt kokemuksistaan kertoneen henkilön kohdalla...

www.stll.fi

Kiira (who knows the coach) was quoted in the article saying it's a systemic issue and this case could be the tip of the iceberg. She also retweeted the Yle article with the caption "Wake-Up Call!!!" and tagged the Fed's official twitter account.

 

[IDC a.k.a. Ritti]

Kiira's latest Instagram story is quite telling. She writes: "If only these kind of cases were just sporadic, rare occasions."

 

[Finnice]

I feel so sad and disgusted.

 

[nimi]

There's been quite a lot of media coverage about problems in figure skating coaching culture this week, e.g. Urheiluruutu (the sports segment of primetime Yle TV news) highlighted it both yesterday and on Wednesday.

Yesterday the coaches' association Stav promised that they will make reporting inappropriate behavior easier in the future, via their website.

Valmentajien yhdistys lupaa ryhtyä toimiin häirintäuutisten takia: ”Taitoluistelu ei ole säästynyt kaikilta negatiivisilta puolilta, joita elämässä ja urheilussa saattaa esiintyä”

Taitoluisteluvalmentajien yhdistys ottaa häirintäuutiset vakavasti ja ryhtyy toimiin. Suomen taitoluisteluliitto selvitti keväällä harrastajien kokemuksia lajin ilmapiiristä. Esiin nousi joitakin epäkohtia.

www.aamulehti.fi

In happier skating news: In Nepela, O/P are currently 5th after the RD with 67.01 points, ahead of Evdokimova/Bazin and Müller/Dieck. Quite a surprise!

Yuka ORIHARA / Juho PIRINEN FIN Rhythm Dance 2019 Nepela Memorial

Yuka ORIHARA / Juho PIRINEN FIN Rhythm Dance 2019 Nepela Memorial

youtu.be

 

[Dobre]

Crossposting with the TES Minimums thread:

Orihara & Pirinen earned their Worlds TES in the RD today at Nepela. (And scored 9 points higher than last week in the rhythm dance alone). This gives them the full set of Worlds TES, as they earned the FD minimum last week.

 

[Elka]

Orihara & Pirinen earned their Worlds TES in the RD today at Nepela. (And scored 9 points higher than last week in the rhythm dance alone).

They commented after Lombardia that they did not get in the RD the levels they were aiming at. Must have corrected some of those mistakes. I am really looking forward to seeing them in Finlandia Trophy.

ETA: Had a look. They did have higher levels in Nepela (+2,61 in base value points). Better components also (+2,36 points). The biggest difference is in much better GOE in Nepela.

 

[nimi]

Laura Lepistö is doing the Finnish version of DWTS that airs on Sundays. I haven't watched that show and I have no idea who else is there and whether Laura is the favorite to win, but anyway, her first dance number is now viewable on YT.

Cha cha - Laura Lepistö & Marko Keränen | Tanssii Tähtien Kanssa | MTV3

12. kauden ensimmäisessä Tanssii Tähtien Kanssa -livelähetyksessä kolmantena tanssinumerona nähtiin Laura Lepistön ja Marko Keräsen cha cha. Kappale: Bei mir...

youtu.be

Last week Laura appeared on a sports talk show, on the same channel that airs DWTS. The Fed's boss lady Laura Raitio was also there. Laura L. (who nowadays works in sports marketing and is a STLL board member) was being very diplomatic but emphasized that although she and Kiira are two very different people and view some things differently, she does see where Kiira is coming from with her criticism. The two Lauras agreed that STLL officials as well as coaches need to change with the times and improve their communication skills so that skaters can feel that they have a voice, and so forth.

 

[Jeschke]

Laura Lepistö is doing the Finnish version of DWTS that airs on Sundays. I haven't watched that show and I have no idea who else is there and whether Laura is the favorite to win, but anyway, her first dance number is now viewable on YT.

Cha cha - Laura Lepistö & Marko Keränen | Tanssii Tähtien Kanssa | MTV3

12. kauden ensimmäisessä Tanssii Tähtien Kanssa -livelähetyksessä kolmantena tanssinumerona nähtiin Laura Lepistön ja Marko Keräsen cha cha. Kappale: Bei mir...

youtu.be

I am confused.
Is Laura supposed to be the professional dancer or the 'celeb'?
I have no clue on ballroom dancing, so well...

 

[nimi]

I am confused.
Is Laura supposed to be the professional dancer or the 'celeb'?
I have no clue on ballroom dancing, so well...

She's the celeb.

I know that the original US DWTS has featured several skaters as celebs (e.g. Lysacek after Vancouver, Davis & White after Sochi and Rippon and Nagasu after Pyeongchang) but AFAIK this might be the first time that the Finnish version has a figure skater competing? It's not like there are a lot Finnish skaters who are/were successful enough to qualify as 'stars', even by small country standards... Kiira has already appeared on the show as a judge on a previous season, though.

 

[Jeschke]

She's the celeb.

Well, as said, I have no clue about ballroom dancing but from the video I could not tell he is the pro

 

[RoseRed]

She's the celeb.

I know that the original US DWTS has featured several skaters as celebs (e.g. Lysacek after Vancouver, Davis & White after Sochi and Rippon and Nagasu after Pyeongchang) but AFAIK this might be the first time that the Finnish version has a figure skater competing? It's not like there are a lot Finnish skaters who are/were successful enough to qualify as 'stars', even by small country standards... Kiira has already appeared on the show as a judge on a previous season, though.

Also Kristi Yamaguchi in 2008.

 

[nimi]

Finlandia Trophy starts tomorrow! Anything GOEs did a handy preview that includes some program information and stuff:

Finlandia Trophy 2019 – Preview - Anything GOEs

The sixth of the ten Challenger Series events is Finlandia Trophy, which takes place in Espoo, Finland from the 11th-13th October. Here’s a rundown of…

anythinggoe.com

Streaming info: https://twitter.com/SkatingFinland/status/1181134073965752321

International figure skating competition Finlandia Trophy Espoo live stream available (worldwide) on http://www.skatingfinland.fi/live and (in Finland) http://www.ruutu.fi . Additionally the event is televised on Yle. Finlandia Trophy Oct 11-13.

So basically: if you want to watch the official stream you have to pay for it, but you can watch some of the competition on Yle Areena for free if you're not geoblocked (or find a way around it...)

The Ruutu+ service has a free 14 day trial period (but again, geoblocking...)

Taitoluistelu

Muodostelmaluistelukauden SM-kilpailu luistellaan 1.-2.3. Helsingin jäähallissa ja se nähdään suorana Ruutu+ -palvelussa.

www.ruutu.fi

Unfortunately, there have been some withdrawals. The latest was Ting Cui (ankle injury).
T/V and Viveca withdrew earlier.

Turkkila/Versluis have withdrawn from Finlandia due to her neck injury, and Viveca Lindfors, too.

Vera Stolt has replaced Viveca, who's now listed as a substitute.

 

[Finnice]

Excited to see Orihara and Pirinen live!

 

[Jeschke]

The Ruutu+ service has a free 14 day trial period (but again, geoblocking...)

Taitoluistelu

Muodostelmaluistelukauden SM-kilpailu luistellaan 1.-2.3. Helsingin jäähallissa ja se nähdään suorana Ruutu+ -palvelussa.

www.ruutu.fi

Thanks for your summary.
Is Ruutu+ showing all? Do you know if there is a on-demand option?

I am not willing to pay for the stream, so I would try this with vpn maybe.

 

[Hanna]

Thanks for your summary.
Is Ruutu+ showing all? Do you know if there is a on-demand option?

I am not willing to pay for the stream, so I would try this with vpn maybe.

The Ruutu+ service is different and is mostly only showing national competitions + synchro (+ the Finlandia Trophy). So don't go for that one.

Edit: Wait, were you asking about the Finlandia Trophy in particular? Then yes, they are showing all of FT from what I understand. I'd assume there's on-demand but not sure. But in any case, Ruutu+ is not free either, so it's not much different from the official FT stream... Another edit: Ahh but with the 14-day free trial period it IS free in the beginning, obviously. Never mind me being slow. Not sure what kind of info it wants when you subscribe though.