Military service did not stop Matthias Versluis and Juulia Turkkila from a record-breaking season – now the European four list the keys to a medal in the home European Championship

It has almost been thirty years since Finland’s last medal in ice dancing. Is the trend broken in the home EC in figure skating? Juulia Turkkila and Matthias Versluis do not think that they are the great blue and white hope.

Exactly fourteen years ago, Finnish figure skating experienced some of its best days. The Helsinki Arena was buzzing with anticipation – and the blue and white ladies’ stars Laura Lepistö, Susanna Pöykiö and Kiira Korpi delivered.

Lepistö’s EC gold on home ice was the icing on the cake for some really strong years on the women’s side.

– I remember the ecstasy. The hall was packed, Finnish flags were being waved everywhere and it felt very big, says Juulia Turkkila.

When Yle Sporten meets Juulia Turkkila and Matthias Versluis, it is just over a week until it really applies to them. Now the home EC in figure skating awaits again – this time in Espoo and this time Turkkila and Versluis are the only realistic hope for a medal for the Finnish part.

They enter the ice dance fourth in Europe and have the capacity to take Finland’s first medal in the discipline since the mid-1990s.

– We don’t think about the fact that we are Finland’s greatest hope. Our goal is to achieve two strong performances, says Versluis.

– A couple from Italy and one from Great Britain will probably fight for the gold, but after them it’s even and we are among those chasing close places. But it doesn’t feel like anything special to be a medal candidate. We have been in similar situations before, says Turkkila.

First podium in GP competition

Turkkila and Versluis have sailed up as a medal candidate in the EC after solid work for several years. They switched to ice dancing in 2016 and have gradually worked their way closer to the top of Europe.

Last year, the duo finished 15th in the Olympics and 12th in the WC, but among European pairs they were, for example, sixth best in the WC. Now the Russian skaters are also gone indefinitely and the French champion pair Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron have taken a break.

– The body and the brain remember all the great moments we had during the last season – from the Olympic qualifiers to the Olympics and the WC itself, says Turkkila.

Their memories of the EC hall in Espoo are at least as strong. At the end of November came the first podium finish in a GP competition when they came third with a new points record of 191.79.

– We have always received good energy from the crowd here, and it feels good to compete on home ground. In the GP competition we put what we have trained on. We were in the zone and enjoying ourselves, says Versluis.

Conscription has had an impact

Turkkila and Versluis shine before the EC and feel at home in Espoo. They have concentrated on automating the movements of the two competition programs for the home championship.

The foundations for the free program were already laid last spring. Because Versluis had to do his military service, they went to the USA right after the World Cup in Montpellier.

– The process of setting the new program has been more difficult than before because of the army. It becomes more difficult to get everything new when you can’t be on the ice all the time. And we hardly had time to catch our breath when there were only a couple of weeks between the World Cup and my start of military service.

Turkey:

– We started putting together the rhythm dance a little later. Then it’s about choosing music, finding the right elements and working on the choreography. The preparations for this season were not entirely optimal.

– When we started the season with the Finlandia Trophy in October, we didn’t know where we stood, but our performance was good and we immediately received good feedback from the judges. The curve has pointed upwards during the season and we have taken small steps all the time.

Now the goal is to succeed in starting the EC with a sufficiently strong rhythm dance. The strength of the Finnish medal hope is the free program and it will be decided on Saturday evening.

– The most important thing is to find a calmness in what we do and to be absorbed in the moment. As we are in a state of flow, it usually goes the best, says Versluis.