Juulia Turkkila and Matthias Versluis won the EC bronze in ice dance on Saturday in Espoo. The medal was the first in the sport for a Finnish couple in decades and a reward for hard work.
The ice dance couple who won bronze at the European Figure Skating Championships yesterday Juulia Turkkila and Matthias Versluis has traveled together a long way to valuable competition medals. Skaters who suffered serious injuries received a prize for years of work at the Espoo Games.
– The couple has had a lot of adversity and they have worked for a long time, that’s why this success feels so good, Matthias Versluis’ mother Marie-Christine Versluis says to Urheilu.
Versluis was in the Espoo Areena, excited for the Finnish pair’s medal battle.
– It felt like the performance was going well. It seemed that they only focused on their own performance and were able to keep a cool head, even Turkkila’s mother Versluis, who has known Turkkila since she was a child, from yesterday.
He believes that it is precisely the adversities that have made the couple cold-headed.
Read more: The Finnish ice dance couple’s EC medal left the legends of the sport speechless – Susanna Rahkamo saw how jokes were still scarce in the fall because of the army
A special atmosphere in Espoo
The Finnish couple excelled in both their rhythm and free dance. The support of the home crowd lifted the pair to a record score of 198.21. The ecstatic audience gathered praise from Marie-Christine Versluis.
– The atmosphere was great. The Finns supported all the skaters, which is very special. Finland has a very special atmosphere, Versluis creates the atmosphere with the experience of several competition venues.
In the audience, loved ones cheered strongly as they participated in the performance.
– We were already shouting in the stands during the lifts and others, also Versluis, who watched the competition in the company of Juulia Turkkila’s mother, laughs.
According to him, waiting for points after the performance has become easier over the years. The mother’s mood in ice dancing is lightened when the now 28-year-old son has a partner on the ice to support him. The family and relatives in the stands were naturally overjoyed when the medal was secured.
Injuries have challenged
After the competition, the family quickly got to the edge of the ice to congratulate the bronze medalist, which was a memorable moment.
– We have time to hug, congratulate and quickly talk with Juulia as well, explains Marie-Christine Versluis.
There has been a lot of talk about the challenges faced by the couple, who have been skating together for years. The mother knows her son’s challenges exactly. At the age of 18, Matthias lost a bone chip in his knee, which watered down the dream of the young man who was preparing for the European Championships.
– It was mentally the most terrible thing for him. This was definitely some kind of revenge for him, Matthias Versluis’ mother says.
Turkkila has also had serious injuries that required surgery. He was seriously injured in the fall of 2019 when he fell from lifting Versluis onto the ice during training. A fractured vertebra was found in Turkey’s neck.
– It feels like the award went to the right people. For them, this sport is so everything, Marie-Christine Versluis rejoices.
Read more: A serious injury ended ice dancer Juulia Turkkila’s career just before reaching the top – “I might never have been able to move again”
He hopes that the success of the Finnish couple will inspire new young people to join the sport.
– There were small children in the audience who danced like crazy there, the happy mother of the bronze medalist laughs.