European Figure Skating Championships on channels 25.–29. January. See shipping information at this link.
Acted as chief judge of ice dancing Mika Saarelainen asked his fellow judges at the Beijing Winter Olympics a year ago what they remembered best about the first part of the competition, the rhythmic dance. The judge from Helsinki, who had a long career in figure skating, was happy when the international judges said, as if with one voice, “the Finns’ lift”.
The number one pair of Finnish ice dance has formed from a dizzying lift Juulia Turkkilan and Matthias Versluis trademark.
– It is a very difficult lift. A crazy mess, Saarelainen describes.
The 28-year-olds Turkkila and Versluis were Finnish champions in single skating less than a decade ago. However, injuries plagued the young skaters. Seven years ago, Seiteminen’s ice dance was found as a solution, where the body does not receive such hard blows as in solo skating.
Although there are no actual jumps, the stunts defy gravity. In the Finns’ “trademark lift”, Versluis spins Turkkila around his middle body and head at breakneck speed.
While the viewer holds their breath during the lift, Turkkila throws herself into Versluis’ rotation without hesitation. That in itself is not a miracle, because the pair of Helsinki Skaters have been working together for 25 training hours every week for years.
– I trust Matthias fully, there have been no problems. It has never been out of the question that I would feel insecure when I skate with Matthias, Turkkila smiles.
Realistic chances for an EC medal
Turkkila and Versluis are now in a new situation. For the first time, they are expected to be successful in the value competition when the ice dance of the European Championship starts on Friday.
When it’s still the EC home games in Espoo and the record points of a couple of seasons are enough to make the statistics four, the medals shine in the eyes of the Finnish figure skaters.
– We don’t go to the European Championships based on ranking, but performance first. But of course, if we get two solid performances, it’s very realistic to get into the top five, says Versluis.
Finland’s most recent ice dance medals are from 1995, when Susanna Rahkamo and Petri Kokko won European Championship gold and World Championship silver.
– Juulia and Matthias have real chances for an EC medal just based on the statistics. There are maybe six pairs where the medalists can be found, says Mika Saarelainen, who works as ‘s commentator at the European Championships.
The European top of ice dance has been renewed in a year, because the French Olympic champions Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron are on a year-long competition break.
Nor the Russians As Victoria Sinitsa and Nikita Katsalapov mixed Aleksandra Stepanova and Ivan Bukin are not defending their double victory at the European Championships, because Russia and Belarus are closed from international competition due to the war of aggression started by Russia in Ukraine.
Now, the Italian couple will go to the European Championships as early favorites Charlene Guignard/Marco Fabbri and the British Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibsonwho have skated more than 200 points this season.
The official record of Turkkila and Versluis, set at the international games, is 191.79, although they broke the 200-point mark for the first time at the World Championships in December.
Top speed on ice up to 35 kilometers per hour
Turkkila and Versluis have been coached by an Italian expert from the beginning Maurizio Margaglio, who believes in the couple’s chances of success. The intensive autumn training session went according to plan and the programs are in good shape.
– They have developed enormously over the last couple of seasons and are one of the best couples in the world, I’m sure of it. But it’s better that they don’t know it themselves yet, Margaglio says with a grin.
The musical duo is able to interpret both their energetic rhythmic dance and their emotional free dance elegantly, down to the last nuance of the music.
According to top judge Saarelainen, the couple is among the best ice dance couples in the world in terms of their slide and basic skating skills.
– They are very close to the absolute top. That’s where the final credit to yourself is decisive. Finnish shyness and modesty gone, says Saarelainen.
The pair’s speed also speaks of their skating skills, which, according to coach Margaglio, is at their own level even compared to their fierce competitors.
– I would estimate that their top speed is 30-35 km/h. In a small, 60×30 meter rink, that’s quite a lot. You can see best live that they go really hard, says Margaglio.
Twenty years ago, the world champion and Olympic bronze medalist has infected Finns with his passion for ice dancing.
As a coach, Margaglio has drawn from his own experience as a former top athlete, but has allowed Turkkila and Versluis to find their own way of being top athletes.
– We now only see the tip of the iceberg, with years of work done by a large team underneath. I think they’ll be really grateful that I’m there for them on this journey and can explain a few things about being at the top.
Is the charm of the home crowd useful?
It’s already been four years since Turkkila and Versluis’ only EC appearance so far. Last year, it was a big disappointment when Turkkila contracted the corona virus right before the EC competitions.
The atmosphere in the Turkkila and Versluis training sessions was calm during the games. According to the couple, performing for a home audience does not arouse nervousness in them, but enthusiasm. It is from Urheilu’s expert Laura Lepistön according to a good sign.
In her own career, Lepistö won the European women’s single skating gold at her home games in Helsinki in 2009.
In the end, statistics are just paper.
– The realism is that you have to make perfect programs and technically succeed, but the couple of extra points can come from the fact that they get the audience’s enthusiasm for their own skating, which is actually reflected in the component points and quality points, Lepistö says.
Ice dancers Juulia Turkkila and Matthias Versluis will start their career with a rhythm dance on Friday from 1:15 p.m. The rhythm dance of Turkkila and Versluis is planned at 16:25. The races can be watched on TV2 and Areena.