Juulia Turkkila and Matthias Versluis have won the EC bronze in ice dance at the EC figure skating championships in Espoo. Versluis and Turkkila reached their record score of 198.21 in front of the home crowd.
The medal is historic for Finns, because 28 years had already passed since the previous Finnish ice dance medal. Year 1995 Susanna Rahkamo and Petri Kokko won European Championship gold and World Championship silver.
– An indescribable feeling.. I’m still shaking, it’s good when the voice comes out. We’ve been told to enjoy yourself, but it’s hard when you’re nervous and have your own expectations and want to succeed, but we did enjoy ourselves. Even though it was difficult and tough, it was amazing, Turkkila commented recently.
– It feels really great, it feels like being in a dream. We didn’t take the pressure of being third after the rhythm dance. We were able to reset well and focus on today, Versluis assured.
The EC gold went to an Italian couple Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri (210.44) and European Championship silver was taken by Great Britain Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson (207.89).
Turkkila and Versluis already reached their record score of 77.56 in Friday’s rhythm dance. The same pace continued in Saturday’s free program, where the judges gave Turkkila and Versluis a score of 120.65. The almost full Espoo arena followed the performance in silence and gave the Finnish couple a standing ovation after the performance.
– It was pretty much a basic shark routine performance. But of course, the fact that we were able to do it in that situation… It’s quite a wonderful thing, Turkkila rejoiced with a trembling voice.
The Finnish couple’s performance left ‘s commentary almost speechless.
– Here, every person stands and gives a standing ovation to the Finnish couple after this work of art. Finnish flags are flying, we have seen something incredibly wonderful, Sara Honkavaara comment.
– Now is a bad moment… This was really really beautiful, Mika Saarelainen nodded and collected himself for a moment.
– What pressure. I regret that I created it in the fall partly by saying that they have medal chances. If there is no medal now, I will end my career as a judge, because this was so beautiful and technically very successful, demanding… And I’m trying to collect my thoughts here at the same time, Saarelainen continued.
– But for once you shed tears before me, Honkavaara laughed.
The touching moments did not end with the performance of the Finnish couple, as the medals were distributed by the person who brought the previous medal to Finland Susanna Rahkamo. Rahkamo smiled widely as he walked towards the podium and the Finnish couple.
– This is the passing of the baton. This is an emotional moment, certainly a moment full of memories and nostalgia for Susanna Rahkamo, commented Honkavaara.
Rahkamo won his spouse Petri Kokon with EC bronze exactly thirty years ago, also in front of the home crowd. The European Figure Skating Championships were held in Helsinki in 1993.
The coaching duo rejoiced
The coaches of the Finnish pair, an Italian Maurizio Margaglio and French Neil Brown, rejoiced at the successful performance of the EC bronze medalists.
– After the skating ended, we were so happy for them. I told them to just enjoy this moment. This is why you are loved, Margaglio commented.
Brown was especially happy that the Finnish duo succeeded after some difficult moments.
– They have had a lot of challenges in the last few years. They were unable to participate in last year’s European Championships. The way they came here and took the medal is insane.
A long and rocky road to the top
Seven years ago, Turkkila and Versluis switched from figure skating to ice dancing. Both were Finnish champions in single skating, but suffered from injuries. The solution was found in ice dancing, which is kinder to the body.
Maurizio Margaglio started piloting the Finnish pair, which in the spring of 2019 finished 11th in the European Championships and 16th in the World Championships.
However, in the fall of 2019, Turkkila suffered the most serious injury of his career, when he suffered a fractured vertebra in his neck. The severity of the injury that occurred during training was not revealed at first, and Turkkila even managed to train with it.
– It could have been really bad. I might never have been able to move again. I could have been paralyzed, Turkkila recalled in an interview with in October.
However, Turkey recovered and the journey towards the top continued. However, there have been setbacks even after that. The pair missed the previous three European Championships. A year ago, Turkkila got sick with corona right before the Games.
Now in Espoo, the 28-year-old couple from Espoo was expected to achieve EC success for the first time. They fulfilled the expectations spectacularly.