EC 2009: “Please rise for the national
anthem of Finland”
Helsinki
- Day Five
By
Titanilla Bod
Photos © Absolute
Skating
It’s
been all about the Finnish ladies in Helsinki this week. Look at
the newspapers: Savchenko, Szolkowy won the title? Great,
but Laura, Kiira and Susanna will compete later on. Brian Joubert
won the title? Let’s write a short column about it, but we
want the big space for Laura, Kiira and Susanna. Khokhlova &
Novitski won their first gold? All right, but Laura, Kiira and Susanna…
They were smiling from the covers of magazines, they were in newspapers
and they were on TV. Yes, two of them were also on the podium.
Carolina Kostner was the first to skate amongst the medal contenders,
and although she doubled the flip, she skated clean. Obviously she
got first position, however, her coach Michael Huth was looking
at the score and he couldn’t understand why Carolina got no
points for the combination spin. “We’ll have to check
the replay. Right now we can’t say anything about it”,
Huth said just after the program. Carolina at the press conference
could tell the press more: “Probably I just did two more revolutions
in the upside position before I came out of the spin. There are
so many things to think about when you skate that it just sometimes
overflows.”
Laura Lepistö skated just after Carolina, and she wasn’t
flawless – she singled the Lutz. “I would say it was
about the level of what I do at practice. I simplified the combination
in the beginning and singled the Lutz, but I tried to keep my thoughts
together and focus on the next elements. Winning here is an indescribable
feeling. I could never have expected this to happen”, she
said.
Susanna Pöykiö was second after short program but she
couldn’t keep it in the free skating, so she finished third.
“I’m really pleased about winning the bronze medal,
but I could have skated better. I’m disappointed about doing
just a double Lutz – double toe loop combination and a double
flip. The levels on spins and spirals, which had low levels yesterday,
were good this time. Skating my seasonal best is good, I can improve
from that at upcoming competitions”, Susanna said.
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