European Championship in Gymnastics in Antalya, Turkey, 11.–16.4. shows the competitions on its channels. You can find the shipping information at the end of the article.
Sport once again brutally shows its emotional scale. Last week I went to the premises of the Urhea Sports Academy of the Capital Region to meet the Finnish men’s national balance beam gymnastics team.
It immediately became clear that the gymnasts who live in Urhea and train together every day have a great attitude. The laughter was fresh and the expectations for the European Championship were at the top.
Then it also became apparent that the team has an exceptionally promising 18-year-old Joona Reiman.
A few days later, a harsh announcement came out: Reiman’s value competition debut will be postponed due to an anterior cruciate ligament injury.
Before that, both Reiman himself and his coach Riku Koivunen already had time to talk about the possibility of an EC medal.
– Of course, it is the goal that he becomes the top man in the world. That’s the starting point for the European Championship. It’s pointless to move that goal forward, Koivunen said before his protégé’s knee injury.
Historic European Championship
Of course, Joona Reiman already made headlines last year, because there is more to cover for exceptionality than interviews. Even coach Koivunen takes a moderate approach to the adulation, knowing that there was a reason for the exaggeration.
Last summer, Reiman made Finnish sports history at the age of 17. In Munich, he became the first Finnish junior EC medalist and European champion in balance beam gymnastics.
– Joona was again overwhelming. During the entire week, he has not made a single unsuccessful competition jump, even in training, amazed (you switch to another service) Birch tree.
Reiman’s jump total score of 14,549 would have been enough for sixth place at the Tokyo Olympics 2021. The first jump was medal level.
Reiman first performed the Dragulescu jump (difficulty 5.6), which resulted in a score of 14.833. As another jump, he has had Kasamatsu with a 1.5 twist (difficulty 5.2).
Now at the Turkish European Championships, Reiman had to take part in jumping and vaulting. The men’s hexaathlon stands are permanto, pommel horse, rings, vault, balance beam and sleigh.
– I’m a six-packer, I make all the racks. Jumping has only become a strength, Reiman said.
Reiman knows why jumping is a strength. Among the characteristics, speed and Explosiveness are top class. The biggest areas of development include mobility and strength.
“Brings so much energy to the gym”
The background of Reiman’s characteristics is a passion for training and a versatile sports background, although in gymnastics you need a different speed than, for example, in football.
Riku Koivunen told in Aamulehti (you will switch to another service), that ten years ago, while completing his coaching degree, he had been given the task of monitoring someone’s exercise levels. At that time, Reiman was moving more than 50 hours during the week, but for him it was play and pastime.
Reiman, who comes from Ylöjärvi, started gymnastics when he was 5–6 years old. The final choice of sport took place when he was 12–13 years old, he recalls.
– I also played football. There was such a situation that I had to go to a futs tournament in Estonia or to the first Nordic championships in balance beam gymnastics. They were on top of each other.
At that point there started to be so much training that investing in both was not fruitful.
– It was indeed a good decision.
Coach Koivunen describes Reiman’s speed first and foremost as movement speed, which does not mean running speed.
– And he is quick to react. For example, if he notices in the air that the jump started badly, he has time to correct it.
Sometimes Reiman is too fast. Koivunen laughed out loud that the coach doesn’t always keep track of whether the gymnast has already had time to do everything that was planned in practice.
In addition, Koivunen highlights Reiman’s huge passion for elite sports, what Reiman himself talked about, his ability to train. Reiman can repeat things effectively, which is important for development in skill sports.
The words about the young “energy pack” were also signed by the team’s captain, Oskar Kirmes27, for whom the European Championship is already the tenth.
– A really good guy. Brings so much energy to the gym. He is always so active, moving so fast.
Although Reiman is working on his mobility, the stiffness is even an advantage in jumping. Especially fast people are often naturally a bit stiff. Stiffness on the horse and wheels is a disadvantage for obtaining a full range of motion.
Koivunen raised Reiman’s back injury as a concern. In January, he was diagnosed with a precursor stress fracture in his back.
According to Koivunen, Reiman is “quickly prone to injury”. It sounds especially miserable now that we know what happened after the interviews.
The knee injury came during the finishing practice of the European Championships. Reiman had done his competition jumps and in one of the descents he had missed the turn. An MRI revealed that the anterior cruciate ligament in the knee has been torn.
National team together every day
Reiman moved to Urhea last fall, where the entire men’s European Championship team trains. Poruka is having fun. When someone shows the cameraman a little trick, there is spontaneous applause and shouts from others.
Koivunen, who has coached Reiman practically his entire career, now works in Urhea as the responsible youth coach. In addition, Reiman gets to be the head coach of the men’s national team in Urhea Timo Holopainen and the father of the Kirmense brothers Mati Kirmensen i learned
There are plenty of other support functions as well. There are sports psychologists, strength coaches, physiotherapists and dual career specialists. Reiman is also studying business administration at Perho School in Helsinki.
– Sometimes there are lessons in such a way that the teachers come here. You can do a lot remotely. Everything is well taken care of here.
Hard-luck Emil Soravuo hasn’t lost his smile
Another tough name is missing from the European Championship team. Emil Soravuo took the World Championship bronze from Permanno 2021. It was Finland’s first World Championship medal since then Jani Tanskanen gold medal in 1997.
In February, Soravuo’s Achilles tendon ruptured. When Urheilu visited Urhea, Soravuok showed up at practice. He said that he got rid of his crutches on the same day, but the leg support will be with him for a while.
Soravuo played tricks on crutches with his leg support and spun in circles around his national team mates, joking that he was “learning to walk again”.
Next, Reiman’s passion for top sports will be put to the test. Fortunately, the national team provides peer support and an example for a tough job and long rehabilitation.
And fortunately, the background also seems to have a strong support network, team spirit and lots of happy gymnast friends.
European Championship in Gymnastics in Antalya, Turkey, 11.–16.4.
Finnish women’s team:
Ada Hautala (Oulu Purintö)
Kaia Tanskanen (Jyväskylä Gymnasts)
Maisa Kuusikko (Tampere Gymnasts)
Olivia Vättö (Espoon Telinetaiturit)
Sani Mäkelä (HIFK Gymnastics)
Finnish men’s team:
Elias Koski (Gymnastics club Helsinki)
Robert Kirmes (Espoon Telinetaiturit)
Oskar Kirmes (Espoon Telinetaiturit)
Pavel Titov (Jyväskylä Gymnasts)
Tarmo Kanerva (Sisu of Tampere)
Akseli Karsikas (Oulu Purintö)
Titov replaced the injured Reiman. Titov races on a horse. Karsikas joined the team competition.
There are 39 countries participating in the European Championships. The primary goals of the Finnish teams are team spots for the fall World Championships in Antwerp. Six European countries have already reached a place there in both men and women, so there are seven places per gender in the division of the European Championships.
In the team race, four athletes can participate in each bracket, of which the results of the best three are counted.
Places for the WC competitions are also allocated to competitors from the EC competitions. The 23 best six and four athletes (2 per country) make it to the World Championships, where they in turn qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The Olympic qualification is a long shot, but to summarize, there are three ways to get there: as a team, as a competitor, or through the World Cup as a specialist on a stand. For example, the injured Soravuo is aiming for a place at the Olympics from next season’s World Cup on a permanent basis.
In the last 50 years, Finland has only once received a male gymnast at the Olympics, when Oskar Kirmes competed in 2016 in Rio. In the women’s category, the previous Finnish representative is Annika Urvikko in London 2012.
Tue 11.4. Men’s team competition and six-match qualifying
Wed 12.4. Women’s team competition and four-match qualifying
Thu 13.4. Men’s six-match final ( Areena at 3:55 p.m. and TV2 at 6 p.m.)
Fri 14.4. Women’s quadruple final ( Areena at 3:55 p.m. and TV2 at 6 p.m.)
Sat 15.4. Bracket finals: men’s vault, pommel horse and rings and women’s vault and balance beam ( Areena at 1:25 p.m. and TV2 at 2:50 p.m.)
Sun 16.4. Platform finals: men’s vault, balance beam and beam and women’s beam and beam ( Areena at 12:55 and TV2 at 14:40)