The final show of the European Championships took place without a great successful Finn. The activities of the International Association for Skating are reasonable to have doubts, writes Riikka Smolander-Slotte of Sports.
Riikka Smolander-Slot Sports Editor
Sports followed the European Figure Skating European Championships moment by moment in this article.
On Saturday night, social media channels began to get hot when one or another figure skating fan got a final show on the performance list. Both Finnish couples were missing from the list.
Less than a point bronze Juulia Turkkila and Matthias Versluisis Performance at the Sunday gala was taken for granted. The couple missed the medal only and dramatically improved their record.
The “fiery tango” of the free program got the audience to be ecstatic.
Many people also waited for the audience’s favorite pair, a duo known for their show skills Yuka orihara and Juho Pirinen. The couple improved their record by more than ten points and was seventh.
Medals are automatically invited to the final screening, the rest of the performers are decided by the International Skating Association, ISU. This time, the composition of the performer list seems to be based on something other than skating or public wishes.
The absence of a Finn is also surprised by the fact that the fourth skaters of all other sports were on the performer list. On the ice, the men’s EM-four in Georgia were seen Nika Egadze.
In ice dance, for example, the eighth place was invited to the Finnish couples Diana Davis and Gleb Smolk. The Russian couple has represented Georgia since the beginning of the Russian invasion war.
The performance of Davis and Smolkin at the end show screamed hard speculation and doubts in the scenes, as Davis is a Russian coach legend Eteri Tutberidzen daughter.
Tutberidze has gained reputation as a pilot for many winners, but also received criticism of his coaching methods and activities Kamila in connection with the doping cart.
Tutberidze was also participated in the Tallinn European Championships as he coaches Nika Egadze, Georgia’s solo skating, and is passionate about her daughter’s prejudices in ice dance.
Although Russia is on the sidelines so far from international figure skating, Tutberidzella, who has been great success, still has a lot of influence in figure skating circles. Part of the European Championship show’s list of performers who wondered about the question of whether that influence on the choices of the International Union was emphasized.
Although it is a pure speculation, excluding Turkkila and Versians outside the final show was an unimaginable solution from ISU.
Tallinn’s Tondiraba Hall’s auditorium was full of Finnish viewers on the race days who encouraged athletes and created the atmosphere, but also brought a lot of money to the organizers.
Many of these viewers expected to see the Finns on the ice at the final show. On Sunday morning, a Finnish couple communicated to Sports that they would have liked to have performed in front of the home crowd.
ISU justified Turkkila and the departure of the Versians with the entertainment value of the gala.
The statement is a wet rag not only for Finnish couple but also for Finnish fans. If entertainment was sought on the ice, why did Orihara and Pirinen not fit? They were on the European Championships for a pair of Georgia in a pair of Georgia, and time and time again would make the hall mumble.
In the 2020s, a sports successor should be able to rely on the fact that politics and poking will not solve, for example, performers of a figure skating show. This time, the fair game and the sports spirit were far from ISU’s decisions.
Once again, athletes and viewers were suffering.