HONEYMOON.
– If you really want something, you have to be able to say it out loud. I think that there is no need to be ashamed or hide hard goals.
Turned 24 on Christmas Day Scrub Koivisto is an ambitious calculator who dares to say his dreams out loud.
One day, Koivisto wants to be the best in the world.
– I don’t mean that I can never put my feet up on the table and feel that I am ready. But I want to push myself to the limits as much as possible and see what I’m really capable of, he says Rukalla to Urheilu.
There is still a way to the top. Koivisto is among the 15-20 best freeski skiers in the world, but the goal is to establish a place in the top ten this season. In the longer term, the sky is open.
Head coach of the national freeski team Juha Mourujärvi and Urheilu’s sports expert Juho Kilkki describe Koivisto’s potential as enormous.
– This is an incredibly skilled, really playful and inventive calculator. He has the full potential to be a big success, Kilkki estimates.
Amazingly good trick
Koivisto already stands out from the crowd.
The originality of Ivalo’s grower has charmed international accounting circles time and time again. In the early season, he performed a jump in the Big Air World Cup in Switzerland and China, which confused even the competition judges who had seen a lot.
The trick is called switch Blender doubled with ton blunt.
In it, Koivisto descends into the jumper backwards, looks over his right shoulder, turns his gaze straight back with the jumper, does two back flips, in one of which he does an extra 360 degrees while holding onto the ski.
– I believe that no one has done something similar, because you can’t really see anything in this trick. You don’t know where the earth is and where the sky is, Koivisto says.
He admits with a smile that going for a trick is “always scary”.
– It’s probably the scariest trick I’ve ever done.
– Even I think it’s wild. It’s like putting everything on black in roulette, says national team head coach Juha Mourujärvi.
The judges have admitted that judging the exceptional jump has been difficult. In the World Cup in China, Koivisto’s points were not enough for the finals, after which the counter went to the judges’ speeches.
He wanted to hear the thoughts of the scorers and reveal to them the difficulty of the trick.
– The judges said that it was difficult for them to score the trick and understand which things were difficult because I’m the only counter who does it. We had a long discussion about it.
At the end of the hearing, the judges urged Koivisto to definitely continue on his chosen path. The comments from the rest of the sports community also warmed the heart.
As a calculator, Kuura is much more than the FIS judging can handle.
Juho Kilkki
– I have only received good feedback from other calculators, which is really encouraging. Something has been done right, says Koivisto.
– Sometimes ideas come up that don’t work as you would like. However, I’m really proud of how this trick looks. I want to make it even more difficult and showy.
A species in transition
Urheilu’s expert Juho Kilkki reminds that a subjective assessment is made in a sport like freeski.
What’s new and cool doesn’t always bring the best scores.
– As a calculator, Kuura is much more than the FIS judging can handle. That trick is one small glimpse of that, says Kilkki.
Freesk’s coaching manager Jussi Mononen according to the judges, it is humane to complain.
Today’s counters are constantly developing new, big and spinning tricks that compete with each other. When changing conditions and different performance locations are taken into account, scoring performances is not quite simple.
– Another developer of long line tricks Elias Syrjä has been in a situation many times where the referees have not seen or understood what he has done. After the race though, they’ve said just don’t stop doing that trick. “Maybe it will get the right points next time we figure out what it is.”
Creativity, self-expression and trying out new tricks are strongly part of the Finnish counting culture.
For Koivisto, going his own way is a life mission. Its importance grew even more after the setback experienced in January 2022.
Koivisto was fully preparing for the Beijing Olympics when he fell and injured his knee. The Olympic journey turned into several months of rehabilitation.
– It was a tough place, but I learned a lot about myself as a calculator. At that time, my calculation was going in a direction that I don’t think is so cool. I think too much about what the judges want from me and not what I want to show others.
A big Olympic dream
The coaches describe Koivisto not only as a free artistic soul but also as an extremely dedicated trainee.
Something about competitive ambition tells us that, as the Italian Winter Olympics approach, Koivisto has reduced the photography projects he loves.
Koivisto wants to be close to the top in the games held in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo in February 2026. Also, an invitation to the X Games, which is respected in sports circles, is a big dream, like the Olympics.
– The number one goal at the Olympics is a medal. I feel that I have the potential for it, but it is behind hard work.
Koivisto has set himself ambitious trick goals. There is a set of difficult tricks in mind that he is constantly honing.
The hunger for success is strong, as is the desire to show something completely new on the slopes.
– Some ideas are certainly not even realistic, but they have to be there. Maybe they will come true one day.