The figure skating season will host one more value competition when the World Championship medals are skated in Montpellier, France. broadcasts the games on its channels.
Figure skaters will not have time to breathe any more this season, as the long season includes, among other things, the Tallinn European Championships, the Beijing Olympics and the World Championships that will be skated this week. The World Championships in Montpellier, France, begin on Wednesday with a women’s short program.
Finland is represented at the World Cup Jenni Saarinen and an ice dance pair Juulia Turkkila–Matthias Versluis however, they have not yet broken such a competitive trend, quite the contrary.
– These are one of the most important competitions of the season for me, Jenni Saarinen said in the remote information of figure skaters and said that he had just discussed the matter with his coach.
– We stated that the World Championships are the main competitions of the year and in a way, every four years, the Olympics are a bonus.
According to Finnish skaters, the value of the World Championships will not decrease, even though the biggest competitions in the world were competed a month ago. According to Turkkila, it is important for him and Versluis to get to the World Cup so that they can show their progress to others and possibly improve their ranking points.
– We have always known that there is still important competition after the Olympics. The coaches have made good plans and we have been able to implement these plans well, Turkkila said.
Saarinen has not got everything out of himself
Jenni Saarinen is preparing for the second World Cup in her career in a familiar place in Oberstdorf, where she moved after the Beijing Games. The rehearsals went well and according to plan, and the good experiences of the Olympics provided additional motivation.
– When I got to practice with the best in the world for many days, it gave me a lot more motivation and a feeling that I want to skate there and belong there. It wasn’t hard to get back to the taste of the workouts. Actually, it felt like I had a good internship left over there, Saarinen thought.
At the Beijing Games, Saarinen had to worry for many hours about whether he would have a place in the free program. Russian Olympic team Kamila Valijevan Due to the doping cart, 25 skaters entered the free program, and the Finn got the last place.
For the free program, Saarinen changed his costume and hairstyle, which he considered to be mentally important, but despite the changes, he was not completely satisfied with his performance in Beijing. Saarinen was especially annoyed by his easy jumps, but he still plans to go to the World Championships with the same program.
– I haven’t made any changes since the Olympics, let’s go for it at the same time, he said, referring to both the program and his suit and hairstyle.
– I want to do a job now that I can be happy with myself. That there is such a feeling that it is good to end the season. It seems like I haven’t gotten everything out of it based on the results. It is now the main goal that I can be happy with what I have done.
Turkkila and Versluis received a boost from the Olympics
Turkkila and Versluis, who are preparing for their third World Cup, have also trained closely since the Beijing Games, and the pace has not been slackened.
– The Olympics motivate when they saw those top pairs. There really was such a boost as to how we get there to the next level. We have already started preparing for the coming seasons and we know our development targets. We wanted to start looking at them now, Turkkila said.
– We have wanted to raise our level even more. We set goals and want to get even more out of Beijing’s performance. We have been pleased with this training session.
The duo had to skip the European Championships due to Turkkila’s positive corona test result, but they finished 15th at the Beijing Olympics. In their Olympic debut, Turkkila and Versluis did exactly what they had planned, but now in Montpellier they want more. Therefore, in recent days, they have focused on reliability, accuracy, and range of motion.
– Let’s start with two successful runs. Hopefully we will be able to show the result of the work then in the race performances, Turkkila said.
– Of course, we are going to improve our ranking, but we will focus primarily on our performance and try to improve it, Versluis continued.
More humane bubble races
The Beijing Olympics became known for the extremely tight corona bubble. The Montpellier World Championships are also some kind of bubble race, but the coaching manager Satu Niittysen according to the bubble is more humane than Beijing. Among other things, outdoor opportunities should be better.
– Of course there are daily tests, as in all races this season. These hygiene regulations are really accurate and the tests should be in order when you go there. It feels like these are the basics these days, Natunen said.
– It all depends on arrangements that only survive on the spot.
For athletes, competing in a bubble is no longer a big deal, as there have been several corona bubble races in the last two years.
– We’re pretty used to that. Let’s go for it at the same time, Turkkila laughed.