Tampere is home to an 18-year-old figure skater who has great potential to become an international star. That’s what he believes Nella from Pelko coached from a five-year-old skating schoolboy to the threshold of adulthood Minna Järvinen.
Pelkonen flashed his skills at the weekend’s Finlandia Trophy, where he skated to victory in the free program competition, leaving behind, among others, the reigning European champion Anastasia Gubanova. In the overall results, Pelkonen was fourth as the best Finn.
According to Minna Järvinen, Pelkonen has already mastered all the most difficult triple jumps and their combinations for several years. According to Järvinen, the balancing act with health is the reason that Pelkonen is only now starting to blossom and rise to the international top.
– Nella is ready for triple axel and quadruple jumps. If he stays healthy and has balance in practice, the 200 point barrier will be broken in the future. I still don’t see him as a ready skater technically or as a performer. He is nowhere near his maximum level, says Järvinen.
No Finnish woman has exceeded the 200-point mark in international competitions. Pelkonen got a total of 179.31 points for his short and free programs in Espoo. Finnish actives have reached that level of points Emmi Peltonen and Janna Jyrkinen in their record programs.
Consistency is required for star level
Sports expert Sara Honkavaara According to Pelkonen, the background to Pelkonen’s top performance is not so much a sudden leap in development, but rather success in things that have already been learned before.
– Now that the Russians are not involved, the top of Europe is very even. Figure skating is such a sensitive sport that whoever succeeds best on competition day is ultimately the best. The whole thing is about whether or not Nella Pelkonen will be able to continue to perform in these international competitions in the future, says Honkavaara and adds:
– Rising to stardom requires certainty. Skaters under the age of twenty often lack competitive confidence, as has been the case with Nella in the past. Let’s hope it has been found now.
According to Honkavaara, Pelkonen’s technical skill level is already at the top of Europe.
– Nella is an extremely versatile skater. He has a very good, economical and soft jumping technique, which is his absolute strength. It is important because the jumps are weighted and result in the highest technical scores. He also has extremely good arch skating technique and pirouettes. As a performer, he is surprisingly mature for his age, Honkavaara enthuses.
Finland has two representative places for women’s single skating at the European Championships in Lithuania in January. Last year, there was only one place at the EC home games, but Janna Jyrkinen got another place for Finland after finishing seventh.
Based on the beginning of the season, Pelkonen, Jyrkinen and Peltonen compete the strongest for the two spots, all of whom achieved their best points of the season at the Finlandia Trophy.
Demanding and stubborn nature
Pelkonen got his first skating lessons in Tampere at the Tesoma ice rink, where he impressed Koovee’s head coach Minna Järvisen with his natural ability to move and slide on the ice. The under-school-aged girl had a sparkle in the corner of her eye and the attitude of a top athlete.
– Nella is so demanding of herself that she likes to punish herself and go for an extra run or pound if the competitions or trainings didn’t go as she would have liked. That’s why the coach’s role has been more of a balancing act for him. He has always been very cold-hearted, Järvinen laughs.
After only a few sessions at the skating school, Järvinen told Pelkonen’s mother that the talented girl could already move on to the advanced group.
Pelkonen performed the programs already seen last season at the weekend’s Finlandia Trophy, which is a choreographer Elina Ikonen handwriting. The current free program was made a year ago on the fly in the middle of the season, right after the Finlandia Trophy. According to Järvinen, such a bold play reflects Pelkonen’s character.
– When he decides something, it is immediately put into action. If he needs a new free program for the day, one will be made. The old free program had remained at the level of little girls, when Nella had matured as an interpreter and grown out of the program. It was the only right solution, says Järvinen.
Järvinen and Pelkonen’s coaching collaboration continued for 13 years, until Pelkonen moved to Tappara last summer Susanna Haaralan for coaching. Haarala used to coach Kiira Korven as a value competition medalist.
According to Järvinen, there was no drama involved in the change of coach and club. However, Järvinen admits that he watched Pelkonen’s performances in the Finlandia Trophy with somewhat mixed feelings.
– Of course I’m really happy for him, but on the other hand I’m sad that I’m no longer part of that pattern, I won’t deny it. Of course I understand and I agree with you. Many kinds of emotions. However, I am really proud of him, says Järvinen.