Finnish skating news, 2018 onwards

[Sylvia]

Congratulations to Jenni Saarinen on winning the bronze at Nebelhorn Trophy! https://www.skatingfinland.fi/tapahtumat/jenni-saarinen-pronssille-nebelhorn-trophyssa/

There will be a baby Virtanen in January!

Valtter Virtanen starttaa uuden kauden riemulla - SkatingFinland

Kokenut, 33-vuotias maajoukkueluistelija Valtter Virtanen kertoo, että kesä on vahvistanut entisestään uskoa omaan tekemiseen.

www.skatingfinland.fi

"Juulia Turkkila and Matthias Versluis will start their competition season next weekend on October 3-4 . solo skating and ice dancing in the 1st Finnish Championships in Pori." Article on the Finnish federation's website:

Turkkilan ja Versluisin tähtäin Covid-19-vuotta pidemmällä - SkatingFinland

Jäätanssijat Juulia Turkkila ja Matthias Versluis eivät hermoile, vaikka kauden kilpailukalenteri ammottaa vielä tyhjyyttään.

tinyurl.com

ETA that Skating Finland's Instagram stories today showed clips of both T/V and Yuka Orihara/Juho Pirinen performing programs in the Espoo Metro Arena as part of a national team pre-season skate.

Livestreaming subscription fees info:

Live - SkatingFinland

Suomen Taitoluisteluliitto näyttää suoratoistona useita kilpailutapahtumia SkatingFinland-fi- ja Ruutu+-kanavilla.

www.skatingfinland.fi

1st Finnish Championship selection competition in Pori (Oct. 3-4) event info page:

1. SM- valintakilpailu 3. - 4.10.2020

Tervetuloa kisasivuille ja tervetuloa Poriin! YLEISTÄ DOKUMENTIT TULOKSET

www.porita.net

 

[Sylvia]

Skating Finland recaps their first competition of the season & includes photos (results link is at the end of the article):

Emmi Peltonen ja Turkkila–Versluis aloittivat lupaavasti - SkatingFinland

Porissa luisteltiin viikonloppuna taitoluistelun ensimmäinen SM-valintakilpailu. Emmi Peltonen vei naisten sarjan voiton ylivoimaisesti.

www.skatingfinland.fi

Google translated quotes from 2 of the winners:

- I came to see what's going on and the weekend was just ok. A month and a half ago, I still didn’t know where to start the race season. It is good that this competition came at just this time. Now I know what I will focus on on Monday, Emmi Peltonen analyzes.
Internationally, Peltonen is on the list for the Volvo Open Cup in Latvia at the beginning of November, in addition to which she was invited to the French GP.
- Fortunately, international competitions are coming, and there is no longer any uncertainty about how the season will continue. Hopefully the world will get better from this, Peltonen expressed her hope.

Turkkila and Versluis last competed in February, so the training period without competitions has been a record long. Last season was also overshadowed by Turkkila's injury, so the couple has been asked for patience. The competition situation over the weekend was surprisingly exciting for the couple.
- We made sure a little today and we can do better, but we are quite satisfied with the whole. Even though it was just a Finnish Championship qualifier, today there was a surprising amount of excitement. Since we don’t know how much racing the season brings with it, it’s worth using these domestic races to great advantage, a couple summed up.

 

[Sylvia]

Janna Jyrkinen, 13, won the Junior gold medal (153.38) at Volvo Open Cup in Latvia this past weekend:

Janna Jyrkinen ylivoimaiseen voittoon Latviassa - Suomen Taitoluisteluliitto ry

Lappeenrannan Taitoluistelijoiden Janna Jyrkinen luisteli Latviassa käytävässä Volvo Open Cupissa juniorityttöjen sarjan ylivoimaiseen voittoon pistein 153,38.

www.stll.fi

Machine translated excerpt:

The free program ... was a very convincing and high-quality ensemble, with 99.92 points. The national team skater presented his strong jumping skills in the program and the triple flip-triple toe, the triple salchow, two double axels, the triple loop and the triple loop-double toe-double loop went smoothly. A small flaw in the beauty hit the latter jump of the triple-lutz triple toe, which was a little less than its rotation [<]. The spins also went smoothly and the series of steps was judged to be the most difficult, ie level four.
- I am pleased with my performance. I am especially glad that I managed to try new triple-triple combinations in the race situation and got good scores from both programs, Jyrkinen rejoiced after the free program.

Domestic competition in Espoo this weekend: https://espoonjaataiturit.sporttisaitti.com/kilpailut/yl-jt-sm-sen-jun-ja-jt-sm-nov-2-/

 

[Sylvia]

Jenni Saarinen article (Nov. 10, 2020):

Jenni Saarinen on kotiutunut Obertsdorfiin - SkatingFinland

Suomen taitoluistelumaajoukkueeseen kuuluva Jenni Saarinen on toteuttamassa unelmaansa asua ja harjoitella Saksassa.

www.skatingfinland.fi

Machine translated excerpts:

Until now, the 21-year-old from Tampere has been popping up with Huth a few times a year, but in the early autumn she packed her stuff for a longer stay. Her intention is to be in Oberstdorf until Christmas.

- It seemed right now to make this solution. Because of Korona, there aren’t very many races this fall, so now is the time to seriously focus on training. In Obertsdorf I also have a really good and close international training team. Everyone has the same goal: to pull the skating to the fullest. Many of us also have the same life situation: right now, we focus purely, without study or work, only on sports.

- It would have been great to perform at the GP level for the first time, but no one can do anything about this situation. It has been a little difficult to plan for autumn now, hopefully I will be able to compete in Germany or Austria in late November. However, I do not take unnecessary risks. The Finnish Championships are now my main goal this autumn.

In addition to the elements and programs, one of the great goals of Jenni Saarinen's period is to utilize and develop her own analytical skills.

Saarinen will return to compete in Espoo this weekend.

 

[Sylvia]

Susanna Rahkamo appointed First Vice-Chairman of the Finnish Olympic Committee (11/21/2020):

Rahkamo Suomen Olympiakomitean ensimmäiseksi varapuheenjohtajaksi - Suomen Taitoluisteluliitto ry

Rahkamo Suomen Olympiakomitean ensimmäiseksi varapuheenjohtajaksi

www.stll.fi

The skaters who reached the place in the Finnish Championships, December 18-20, 2020 in Joensuu (11/19/2020):

SM-kilpailuun paikan saavuttaneet luistelijat - Suomen Taitoluisteluliitto ry

Yksinluistelun ja jäätanssin SM-kilpailut käydään 18.–20.12.2020 Joensuussa.

www.stll.fi

Direct link to the Senior & Junior qualifiers in singles & ice dance:

https://www.stll.fi/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2020/11/YLJTSM2021-paikan-lunastaneet.pdf

Sunday's recap & results from the Espoo Finnish Championships selection competition (11/15/2020):

Sunnuntain tuloksia Espoon SM-valintakilpailusta - Suomen Taitoluisteluliitto ry

Yksinluistelun ja jäätanssin toinen SM-valintakilpailu käydään tänä viikonloppuna Espoon Metro Areenalla. Sunnuntaina luistellaan vapaaohjelmat ja -tanssit.

www.stll.fi

Saturday's recap & results from the Espoo Finnish Championships selection competition (1/14/2020):

Lauantain tuloksia Espoon SM-valintakilpailusta - Suomen Taitoluisteluliitto ry

Jenni Saarinen, Juulia-Turkkila-Matthias Versluis kärjessä

www.stll.fi

 

[maija]

All Finnish figure skating competitions 30.11.2020-31.1.2021 have been cancelled,
including the Finnish Championships, December 18-20, 2020 in Joensuu.

(Some very small local competitions for young skaters may be held in some parts of the country.)

 

[Sylvia]

All Finnish figure skating competitions 30.11.2020-31.1.2021 have been cancelled,
including the Finnish Championships, December 18-20, 2020 in Joensuu.

Here's the article that was published on the federation's website on Nov. 27:

Koronan vaikutukset Suomen Taitoluisteluliiton toimintaan - SkatingFinland

Uudet suositukset ja rajoitukset vaikuttavat merkittävästi Suomen Taitoluisteluliiton ja sen jäsenseurojen toimintaan.

www.skatingfinland.fi

Machine translated excerpts:

In order to avoid traveling between the regions, there will be a break in the competition figure of the Finnish Figure Skating Association until the end of January 2021. This means not only postponing the 2nd Figure Skating Championships (12–13 December), the solo skating and ice dancing Championships (18–20 December), but also all other figure skating competitions on the union calendar from December to January. We are hopeful that the competition season could continue as early as February, if the authorities so allow. However, there are no guarantees. With regard to the competitions now being transferred, the Finnish Figure Skating Association is in contact with the competition organizers. The aim is to find a suitable time for each postponed competition, if at all possible.

The International Skating Federation ISU will meet on December 10th. After the meeting, we can expect more information from ISU regarding the organization of value competitions. If value competitions are held, the selection criteria for the 2020-2021 European Championships and World Championships for top skating will be reconsidered. The athletes / teams concerned will be informed about them and the international competitions as soon as the federation receives further information.

ETA: Jenni Saarinen won the bronze (147.95 total; she skated much better at Nebelhorn Trophy in Sept.) and Valter Virtanen placed 5th (170.53; fell on 4T< in FS) at NRW Autumn Trophy in Dortmund, Germany this past weekend.

 

[Elka]

They hope to continue the season in February. IMO that hints that they do not expect the Europeans to take place. There is indeed an increased number of cases in Finland at the moment, especially in the Helsinki region. However, other sports are going on (biathlon, skiing, international competitions, ice-hockey etc.). They could have just postponed the nationals to January. We are supposed to have "the best situation in Europe" regarding the v_rus. And in Central Europe after some weeks of restrictions, the situation is becoming better.

So I suspect that they have some information that there will be no Europeans.

 

[Ananas Astra]

Apparently, former skater Beata Papp is dating Finnish actor Mikko Leppilampi. You might remember him as the host from the 2006 ESC. He is something like the Finnish diCaprio, very handsome. https://www.instagram.com/p/CFbk1NGBGpQ/

 

[Finnice]

Apparently, former skater Beata Papp is dating Finnish actor Mikko Leppilampi. You might remember him as the host from the 2006 ESC. He is something like the Finnish diCaprio, very handsome. https://www.instagram.com/p/CFbk1NGBGpQ/

They have been an item quite long. A handsome couple, I would say.

 

[Ananas Astra]

They have been an item quite long. A handsome couple, I would say.

I only now found out and was surprised. I agree, they make a beautiful couple.

 

[sus2850]

Not skating related, but I find him way too old for her...

 

[Sylvia]

It was never posted in this thread that Emmi Peltonen is sponsored by Red Bull: https://www.redbull.com/us-en/athlete/emmi-peltonen

She first posted about the outdoor skating project with Red Bull on her IG in March 2020: https://www.instagram.com/p/B-G_5wzpiWo/

The Arctic ice dance

A month ago we went to Nuorgam, the northest part of Europe to shoot an absolute dream of mine with @redbullsuomi and @pablofilms I got to skate on natural ice in the finnish nature under the northern lights and do what I love the most ⛸ so happy to finally share this project

Figure Skating In The Frozen Arctic Circle was uploaded on Dec. 14, 2020 (10+ mins.): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfNOS9fq718

 

[Eislauffan]

Valtter Virtanen and his wife, former German competitive skater Alina Mayer-Virtanen welcomed a daughter on Jan 5. Baby, mom and dad are doing fine, Valtter reported on Instagram. Congratulations to Alina and Valtter!

 

[Sylvia]

Press release (Feb. 28, 2021): https://www.stll.fi/2021/02/28/taitoluistelun-mm-joukkue-on-nimetty-3/

The Finnish Figure Skating Association has nominated the team for the World Figure Skating Championships in Stockholm on March 22-28, 2021.

Ice Dance: Juulia Turkkila-Matthias Versluis
Women: Jenni Saarinen
Men: Valtter Virtanen

Countries must notify contestants by March 1. The International Skating Federation, for its part, will decide on 2 March the final fate of the competitions. The majority of Beijing Winter Olympics venues will be distributed at the World Championships.

For the Finnish team, Juulia Turkkila and Matthias Versluis, the World Cup representation is the second in their careers. In 2019, the ice dance pair finished 16th. Last year’s World Championships in Montreal were canceled due to a corona pandemic.

For Jenni Saarinen, who is training in Oberstdorf, the World Cup representation in the adult series is the first of her career. Emmi Peltonen, who was ahead of Saarinen in the Finnish Season´s Best statistics, will not be able to participate in the World Cup due to her leg injury.

- It's really annoying. I would have liked to compete, but my leg injury has not had time to rehabilitate in time so that I would have been in full competition, Peltonen said.

Valtter Virtanen redeemed his place at the World Championships after giving the International Skating Federation a virtual screen[ing] of his free program two weeks ago. Successful skating brought him the missing technical points that ISU requires from skaters participating in the World Championships. For Virtanen, the World Cup representation is the fourth in his career.

 

[Karen-W]

Press release (Feb. 28, 2021): https://www.stll.fi/2021/02/28/taitoluistelun-mm-joukkue-on-nimetty-3/

The Finnish Figure Skating Association has nominated the team for the World Figure Skating Championships in Stockholm on March 22-28, 2021.

Ice Dance: Juulia Turkkila-Matthias Versluis
Women: Jenni Saarinen
Men: Valtter Virtanen

Countries must notify contestants by March 1. The International Skating Federation, for its part, will decide on 2 March the final fate of the competitions. The majority of Beijing Winter Olympics venues will be distributed at the World Championships.

For the Finnish team, Juulia Turkkila and Matthias Versluis, the World Cup representation is the second in their careers. In 2019, the ice dance pair finished 16th. Last year’s World Championships in Montreal were canceled due to a ********* *********.

For Jenni Saarinen, who is training in Oberstdorf, the World Cup representation in the adult series is the first of her career. Emmi Peltonen, who was ahead of Saarinen in the Finnish Season´s Best statistics, will not be able to participate in the World Cup due to her leg injury.

- It's really annoying. I would have liked to compete, but my leg injury has not had time to rehabilitate in time so that I would have been in full competition, Peltonen said.

Valtter Virtanen redeemed his place at the World Championships after giving the International Skating Federation a virtual screen[ing] of his free program two weeks ago. Successful skating brought him the missing technical points that ISU requires from skaters participating in the World Championships. For Virtanen, the World Cup representation is the fourth in his career.

Yay for Valtter! I suspected as much when he dropped off the Challenge Cup entries list last week. Hopefully lots more skaters received similarly good news this week and can book their flights to Stockholm!

 

[Sylvia]

The Finnish federation's March 15th press release today confirms Hartwall Arena (same as for 2017 Worlds) as the 2023 Europeans venue:

Taitoluistelun EM-kilpailut 2023 käydään Hartwall Arenalla - SkatingFinland

Suomen Taitoluisteluliiton liittohallitus on päättänyt, että taitoluistelun Euroopan mestaruuskilpailut järjestetään Hartwall Arenalla.  

www.skatingfinland.fi

 

[4rkidz]

The Finnish federation's March 15th press release today confirms Hartwall Arena (same as for 2017 Worlds) as the 2023 Europeans venue:

Taitoluistelun EM-kilpailut 2023 käydään Hartwall Arenalla - SkatingFinland

Suomen Taitoluisteluliiton liittohallitus on päättänyt, että taitoluistelun Euroopan mestaruuskilpailut järjestetään Hartwall Arenalla.  

www.skatingfinland.fi

that was my favourite worlds!

 

[Sylvia]

For Jenni Saarinen, who is training in Oberstdorf, the World Cup representation in the adult series is the first of her career. Emmi Peltonen, who was ahead of Saarinen in the Finnish Season´s Best statistics, will not be able to participate in the World Cup due to her leg injury.

- It's really annoying. I would have liked to compete, but my leg injury has not had time to rehabilitate in time so that I would have been in full competition, Peltonen said.

Jenni Saarinen scored the final ladies' Olympic spot for Finland with her 24th place finish at Worlds in Stockholm.

Emmi Peltonen posted this 3Lz practice clip today ("Slowly but surely"): https://www.instagram.com/p/COVeubkhvbK/

 

[Finnice]

Beata Papp and Mikko Leppilampi are expecting their firstborn.
As is Laura Lepistö

 

[Sylvia]

It appears Finland has a new Senior pair (Milania Vaananen briefly skated with Harley Windsor in Moscow this past spring) - copying part of this post from the Australian news thread from April 2021:

Milania Väänänen [is] a Russian/Finnish skater and previously skated singles for Finland on the JGP.

Her ISU Bio is here - http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs00104537.htm.

Her programs from JGP Ostrava 2018 (her last international competition):
SP - https://youtu.be/SJ7dDlfMfag
FS - https://youtu.be/hsrXeUb2EPQ

Here's the relevant excerpt from a Stanislav Morozov interview that's linked in the current From Russia with love thread:

For the second year I have been working with young singles, but rather singles in Armavir [Krasnodar Territory]. Now I have a sports couple who are planning to compete for Finland. The boy Mikhail Akulov previously skated for Switzerland, and the girl is a former Finnish singles skater Milania Vaananen. In this country, there have been no sports couples for a long time who would have performed at the World and European Championships. The initiative to create a pair belonged to Akulov.

Akulov is 29 and competed at 2018 Worlds with Ioulia Chtchetinina (she, with Magyar, has since qualified a 2022 Olympic spot for Hungary): http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs00103791.htm

 

[Sylvia]

Bumping up this thread by re-posting @Hanna's update in the Kiss & Cry section earlier today:

Here are the standings for Euros (2 women's spots). https://www.stll.fi/maajoukkue/seasonbest/yl-jt-pl-arvokilpailuvalintojen-tilastot/ They count the 2 best overall scores of the season.

Olympics will be decided by a committee. And Worlds later with the same criteria as Euros.

National team criteria for 2021-22: https://www.stll.fi/maajoukkue/maajoukkue-esittely/

Singles: https://www.stll.fi/maajoukkue/maajoukkue-esittely/yksinluistelu/
Ice Dance: https://www.stll.fi/maajoukkue/maajoukkue-esittely/jaatanssi/

 

[Sylvia]

YLE's almost 10-minute video feature about Valtter Virtanen's career (includes footage of him skating with his almost-one-year-old daughter at the end ):

Tohtori Valtter Virtanen - yksinäinen ja mollattu miestaitoluistelija jääkuningattarien ja lätkäkuninkaiden maassa | Sportliv

Nuorena taitoluistelijana Valtter Virtanen sai tottua siihen, että samanikäiset lätkäpojat hakkasivat pleksejä, nauroivat ja taputtivat, kun hän kaatui. Nykyään 34-vuotias Virtanen on moninkertainen Suomen mestari, EM-edustaja ja lääkäri. Mutta edelleen lätkäjunnujen huudot menevät tunteisiin...

areena.yle.fi

I've started a competition thread for Finnish Nationals (Dec. 17-19, 2021) in Kiss & Cry: https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/th...-championships-dec-17–19-2021-in-pori.109098/

List of Senior qualifiers (PDF)

List of Junior qualifiers (PDF)

 

[Hanna]

The Finnish Olympic Committee published this article about Turkkila/Versluis this week. https://www.olympiakomitea.fi/2021/...laa-ja-versluisia-kiehtovaan-arvokisaputkeen/ Translates relatively nicely into English with Google Translator.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

The Finnish Olympic Committee published this article about Turkkila/Versluis this week. https://www.olympiakomitea.fi/2021/...laa-ja-versluisia-kiehtovaan-arvokisaputkeen/ Translates relatively nicely into English with Google Translator.

I didnt know that Mauricio has moved there a decade ago. Wow.

Do you know if him and Babs are still close?

 

[Vagabond]

I didnt know that Mauricio has moved there a decade ago. Wow.

Do you know if him and Babs are still close?

According to , they trade stares on Skype.

 

[Hanna]

I didnt know that Mauricio has moved there a decade ago. Wow.

Do you know if him and Babs are still close?

No idea about him and Babs.

And it definitely doesn't feel like it's been a decade that he's been coaching the Finnish dance teams by now. Time really flies! I think the 2 youngest of Maurizio's 4 sons were born in Finland. The kids speak like 4 languages, which is very impressive.

 

[Kelvster]

it's so nice for maurizio to finally have his dance pupils competing in the Olympiks. Juulia Tukilla (?) has come such a long way and she and versluis match rather well.

Cecilia Torn and her partner were so close
Same for Lindholm and partner (sorry forgot the name) 4 years beforehand were also close.

All the finnish dancers are elegant, with good basics and flow, if a little traditional / conservative ... i guess that maurizio didn't wanna impose anything uncomfortable on his pupils ... good for him

 

[IDC a.k.a. Ritti]

Finland's Euros team:
Women: Jenni Saarinen, Emmi Peltonen (sub Oona Ounasvuori, Linnea Ceder)
Men: Valtter Virtanen (sub Makar Suntsev)
Ice dance: Juulia Turkkila / Matthias Versluis (sub Yuka Orihara / Juho Pirinen)
Pairs: Milania Väänänen / Mikhail Akulov
Source: https://www.stll.fi/2021/12/19/pori...elun-suomen-mestaruudet-ja-em-kilpailupaikat/

 

[nimi]

Finland's Euros team:
Women: Jenni Saarinen, Emmi Peltonen (sub Oona Ounasvuori, Linnea Ceder)
Men: Valtter Virtanen (sub Makar Suntsev)
Ice dance: Juulia Turkkila / Matthias Versluis (sub Yuka Orihara / Juho Pirinen)
Pairs: Milania Väänänen / Mikhail Akulov
Source: https://www.stll.fi/2021/12/19/pori...elun-suomen-mestaruudet-ja-em-kilpailupaikat/

Unfortunately, Emmi had to withdraw due to foot injury and she's heading for surgery, so Oona Ounasvuori is in.

From Emmi's IG post:

Hello Everyone.
I want to be open about my situation. Beginning of October 2021 I was told that my foot has fully collapsed, I can’t skate with it, that I need surgery and recovery time is months. That’s the last thing anyone would wanna hear when you’re starting to compete in an Olympic season, but I decided with my coaches and people close to me that I wanted to go all in until the very last stone is turned. I really wanted to show my technical improvement, my programs, finally to compete with difficult elements and being better then I was 4 years ago. This was extremely stressful, because the situation with my foot and ankle, but I am proud of myself that I was able to show even a glimpse of that. With my love for skating and help of my doctors/physios, for a moment, I felt hope, that I can grit it out and finish the season. Everyday has been a battle telling myself that I can I can I can… and forcing my foot to work. I have given my all, there has been good days and those days I skated and cried through the pain. The days leading to Europeans my foot condition escalated suddenly to a situation that I couldn’t even put it into a skate anymore. It’s been the most devastating and heartbreaking feeling to accept. It saddens me that I reached the limits of my foot right before the Europeans and before the decisions of the Olympic dream.
During this difficult season I’m grateful for the support from my coaches, physios, and family. I am going to have a surgery and start my rehab in the upcoming weeks. I’m looking forward to feeling healthy again and stepping back on the ice.
I wish everyone the best for Europeans and Olympics, enjoy it and most importantly stay healthy!

Jenni caught both the flu and norovirus after the Nats so her preparation for the Euros hasn't been optimal (she's been only training for a week or two). Let's hope she and the whole Team Finland manages to avoid the omicron...