In the last sequel of the season, Kaisa Mäkäräinen and Petra Olli got acquainted with figure skating under Laura Lepistö. The trio went through their feelings about the many contradictions in top sports.
22.3. 06:34 • Updated March 22nd. 08:04
The World Figure Skating Championships will be shown on ‘s channels from 23 to 27 May. March. More detailed shipping information can be found at this link or at the end of this story.
– It has rarely become a sport where the whole thing starts with make-up, Kaisa Mäkäräinen describes.
– No false eyelashes were put on the wrestling mat. Hair as tightly as possible, Petra Olli says.
– My beauty treatments for the biathlon competitions were eye drops, mascara and ponnari. I also used quite a lot of French braids, but I never hit it well, Mäkäräinen continues.
The duo, familiar from ‘s Sports Studio’s broadcasts, will try figure skating this time for the 2009 European Championship. Laura Lepistön under.
– I can admit that make-up was not a favorite thing for me either, Lepistö says and tells about a national team camp.
– A representative of a make-up brand came there to give make-up training. It somehow seemed pointless. I didn’t consider makeup terribly important, Lepistö recalls and says that the most important thing of all was to look like yourself.
After the make-up, let’s move on to the first exercises. It’s time to reveal the program of the day: Mäkäräinen and Olli will run a joint free program under the leadership of Lepistö. It has one jump, one pirouette and a choreographic movement series.
A list of lepers normally pulls their talkative duo serious.
– For once, we’re quiet, Mäkäräinen throws.
The first exercise is to get used to the figure skating series. Mäkäräinen and Olli do jumping exercises, among other things.
– What makes the head not turn? As soon as he took a few laps, the world started to spin, Mäkäräinen describes.
– It comes through training, Lepistö answers.
The wonders of ending a career unite
Recently, figure skating has spoken a lot of Russian Kamila Valijevan case. Valijeva’s doping cart came to light in the midst of the Beijing Olympics, but she was allowed to compete. Valijeva, 15, was in the midst of quite a stir. He led the race after a short show, but failed in his freestyle and dropped to fourth.
Valijeva won European Championship gold earlier this year.
The situation of figure skating already spoke at the time of the sport experiment, even though it was filmed before the Olympics.
– I hope there will be a change in the rules for our species. I wish our species was 18-year-old, Lepistö says.
– It would be good to see women’s figure skating, not girls. The smaller one spins faster. When there is a girl’s body, you can also get higher. It also recovers faster when younger.
Lepistö himself started figure skating at the age of three and a half. However, the hobby was voluntary.
– In elementary school, some school stuff went ahead. If I wanted to go to camp school, I missed some important skating camp. It was a good thing that it wasn’t too serious right away, Lepistö says.
At the age of 5–6, Lepistö practiced every day. At the age of 14, he joined the national team. Then the activities became more planned. The prizes are European gold, European silver, European bronze and World bronze. Lepistö ended his career in 2012 at the age of 24.
– There were a lot of questions, why now? There was a feeling that I had to explain terribly why I stopped. Personally, I was like, don’t you realize? Lepistö describes his feelings.
– I had a vision from an early age. I knew skating wasn’t even a thirties sport. I wanted to do the sport to the fullest to a certain point and then I wanted the rest of my life. I didn’t know what the rest of life could be. I knew that only after figure skating did that and that’s it. Then he was able to move forward in good spirits.
Petra Olli is able to identify well with Lepistö’s feelings. The six-time wrestling medalist ended his career at the age of 25. Olli was then told that he would end his career at a young age.
– When you think about the journey from wrestling school to the world championship, it has 18 years of active wrestling. It is not a short time either, Petra Olli, who won the World Cup gold and two European Championship golds, reminds the wonderers.
Kaisa Mäkäräinen’s sport is endurance sports, where the athlete’s path is different compared to figure skating and wrestling. Durability properties develop later, so the grooves last longer. Mäkäräinen ended his biathlon career two years ago at the age of 37.
– I wanted to continue until I felt that now was enough. It has been really nice now that I have been able to try everything, Mäkäräinen says.
The Helsinki European Championships are a terrible moment before the gold medal
The figure skating experiment also made Mäkäräinen and Olli think about other contradictions in top sports. Lepistö won the European Championship gold in 2009 at the home competition in Helsinki. At that time, the Helsinki arena was full.
– I remember from the European Championships that I have never been in such a loud place. Frankly, it was a terrible moment. Even now, when you think about it, there are cold shivers, Lepistö recalls scary moments.
– When I take the starting position, there is a terrible decibel mist. Then I’m just klups!
The free program was successful under severe pressure. In the audience of the Helsinki arena, joy burst. Thousands of Finnish flags fluttered. The ice was full of flowers.
– I won gold, but there was no feeling that this was nice. It felt like the knife was in his throat and he had to try to survive, Lepistö remembers.
Mäkäräinen has similar experiences from his own World Championships. The Finnish biathlon star took the World Championship bronze medal in the competition in Kontiolahti in 2015. According to Mäkäräinen, he was also able to enjoy the pressure in his own way. The Finnish biathlon star also said that he was also more sharp in the pressure situation. Self-confidence was also tougher on familiar lines.
– However, the will to succeed at home is quite strong. Sometimes it felt like it would be easier to race somewhere in Siberia, Mäkäräinen says.
– There are so many contradictions in top sports. On the one hand, it’s terrible and on the other hand, it’s the best ever, Lepistö sums up the conversation.
Petra Olli is on the same lines.
– Sometimes it was the same as a knife in the throat, as Laura said. At the end of my career, I noticed that there was no more excitement. I wonder what it means to lose or win. Then it was time to pound the slippers, Olli says.
The former wrestler top believes that many top athletes struggle with pressure and excitement.
– I haven’t met any athletes who would have said they felt wonderful when they went to perform under terrible pressure, Olli says.
Lepistö was also excited about the successful performances.
– I always think that this is me and my performance. I did the same thing in training yesterday and now I do too. Everything else brought itching, but this idea helped bring the thoughts to the performance itself, Lepistö says.
After Lepistö’s quick training, Olli and Mäkäräinen succeed in their free programs. The performances end with handsome airings and thanks from Mäkäräinen and Olli. Lepistö is rated 8.5.
– Some things suddenly succeed and some are difficult. Petra managed to slide the monkey and Kaisa then someone else, Lepistö evaluated and gave praise to both at the end.
– The end position was completely insane for you. Very good dune!