What About Nordic Skaters? | Golden Skate

What About Nordic Skaters?

LuisRollerArg

On the Ice
Joined
Aug 29, 2013
After Lepisto and Korpi, really has not been a Nordic skater capable of carrying the battens a little higher .. In a short time almost does Viktoria Helgesson, winning a historic medal GP, but soon she is completely vanished by her total FS inconsistency.. Finland has now Jenni Saarinen, but insist on sending Juliia Turkkila, which continues to commit disaster programs. the only one that begins to do better is Joshi Helgesson has left me impressed with her FS in this world, I hope she can get to the maximum of her capacities and Kiira can return to regain the Nordic region in the top of the circuit .
 

tjskate

Rinkside
Joined
Feb 12, 2014
It's a question I've often wondered about also - with the rich early heritage of Sonja Heine, and with the idea of figure skating a "Nordic/winter" sport, I wonder why figure skating hasn't really ever taken off in Norway/Sweden/Finland? Is there more focus on skiing sports, or some other reason?
 

tjskate

Rinkside
Joined
Feb 12, 2014
(Although it's clear that Nordic countries are the most successful in synchronized skating! Maybe that is more the emphasis?
 

Chemistry66

Mmmmm, tacos.
Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 16, 2010
Finland couldn't send Jenni over Juulia. Jenni just turned 15 in March and therefore was too young for Seniors this season.
 

chuckm

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 31, 2003
Country
United-States
Jenni will be eligible for the GP this season but she is too low on the WR and SB lists to get a GP invitation. If she has a successful season on the JGP, she can move up in the rankings for the 2015-2016 season.
 

LuisRollerArg

On the Ice
Joined
Aug 29, 2013
Viktoria was my favourite in 21011-2012 season, she looked like she can land all triples, but last season come down, the lovely Kiira still can´t skate for several injuries.. it´s so sad :(
 

pointyourtoe

On the Ice
Joined
Apr 11, 2013
It's a question I've often wondered about also - with the rich early heritage of Sonja Heine, and with the idea of figure skating a "Nordic/winter" sport, I wonder why figure skating hasn't really ever taken off in Norway/Sweden/Finland? Is there more focus on skiing sports, or some other reason?

Totally! I've always wondered this myself

Maybe it's just cyclical. Who was the last great Nordic champion?
 

Brenda

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 25, 2004
In Finland and Sweden, hockey dominates. Among hockey fans, it seems that the explanation for why Norway isn't as good at hockey as Finland/Sweden is that culturally Norwegians prefer individual sports (and snow, not ice because they have so many mountains) while Finns and Swedes prefer team sports. It's probably true of skating as well, while the boys learn to skate to play hockey, girls who skate tend to join synchro teams rather than pursuing singles. Note that of the 14 World Synchronized Skating Championships that have been held so far, Finland has won 7 and Sweden has won 6.
 

alebi

Medalist
Joined
Jan 11, 2014
I heard that Joshi is training triple axel, is it true? If so, then Joshi can really be the best european competitor for Russian skaters and we know that popularity'll surely bring more girls on the ice. Furthermore we have the synchro "issue" in which Swedish and Finnish Feds have always invested a lot. If this discipline'll gain more consideration in the future (ISU is talking about an Olympic medal for synchro and maybe merging with other figure skating competitions) then they won't have any more problems because they'll surely gain an important medal in figure skating too ;) It's only a matter of diversification
 

Милу

Rinkside
Joined
Mar 6, 2014
In Finland and Sweden, hockey dominates. Among hockey fans, it seems that the explanation for why Norway isn't as good at hockey as Finland/Sweden is that culturally Norwegians prefer individual sports (and snow, not ice because they have so many mountains) while Finns and Swedes prefer team sports. It's probably true of skating as well, while the boys learn to skate to play hockey, girls who skate tend to join synchro teams rather than pursuing singles. Note that of the 14 World Synchronized Skating Championships that have been held so far, Finland has won 7 and Sweden has won 6.

It's true that hockey dominates, but not only in popularity and attention. It's difficult to get time for practice at local ice rinks. When I (who live in Sweden) was active in skating we had our sessions at 7.30 saturdays AND sundays (but cancelled every time there was an "important" hockey game). We had sessions late in the evening (too late for 5-6-7-year olds). When we had competitions, hockey players did their warm-ups (making lots of noise with their heavy bodies jumping up and down etc) in the grandstands... If our local hockey team had a bad season and didn't make it to the play-offs there was no ice from mid March and it didn't come back until September. If you're on a higher level you can of course travel to other places where there is ice all year around, but the lack of good training conditions makes the number of skaters coming up to that level fewer, so there is also a lack of competition in that sense. In Sweden (where I live) figure skating is considered a "girls sport" in general (I don't say it's the opinion of everyone) and it's not very easy to be a boy and go to figure skating classes, because of prejudice and what "real boys" should do. I guess that is part of the answer...
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
Thanks to those of you who live in Scandinavia and Finland for your insights and information! It's always interesting to me to see how different cultures view skating. One thing about Russia that has given it a terrific advantage in the paired disciplines (pairs and ice dancing) is the traditional idea that dance is a manly pursuit. I think this comes from the powerful folk dance tradition in so many regions. I remember the first time I saw the Moiseyev folk troupe on tour as a child, and I was transfixed by the sheer force of the dancing. This translates into a larger pool of male skaters, I think. (And they still manage to find plenty of guys to play hockey!) By contrast, Scandinavia sounds like the U.S. and Canada. (Though Canadians have a long and splendid heritage of solid pairs and fine ice dancers.)

I love that Sweden and Finland are such stars at synchronized skating, though! One of the few international competitions they showed on American TV that I could actually get was won by a Swedish team, as I recall.
 

LuisRollerArg

On the Ice
Joined
Aug 29, 2013
That's truth, but she must land her 3-3 first.. she will be the only girl competitive, I think... she is very passionate and she wants to get to the next level
 

tjskate

Rinkside
Joined
Feb 12, 2014
Thanks to those of you who live in Scandinavia and Finland for your insights and information! It's always interesting to me to see how different cultures view skating. One thing about Russia that has given it a terrific advantage in the paired disciplines (pairs and ice dancing) is the traditional idea that dance is a manly pursuit. I think this comes from the powerful folk dance tradition in so many regions. I remember the first time I saw the Moiseyev folk troupe on tour as a child, and I was transfixed by the sheer force of the dancing. This translates into a larger pool of male skaters, I think. (And they still manage to find plenty of guys to play hockey!) By contrast, Scandinavia sounds like the U.S. and Canada. (Though Canadians have a long and splendid heritage of solid pairs and fine ice dancers.)

I love that Sweden and Finland are such stars at synchronized skating, though! One of the few international competitions they showed on American TV that I could actually get was won by a Swedish team, as I recall.

Yes, thank you for you insights, those of you from these countries! How frustrating, Mnry, that it was so difficult for you to get skate time!

It makes me appreciate how hard someone like a Kiira Korpi had to work to get where she has been. Hopefully, a "breakout" star will come on the scene and inspire a whole new generation of skaters (as Yuna did for Korea.)

And yes, I love watching syncro; it brings the whole idea of skating as one to a new level!
 

Милу

Rinkside
Joined
Mar 6, 2014
Thanks to those of you who live in Scandinavia and Finland for your insights and information! It's always interesting to me to see how different cultures view skating. One thing about Russia that has given it a terrific advantage in the paired disciplines (pairs and ice dancing) is the traditional idea that dance is a manly pursuit. I think this comes from the powerful folk dance tradition in so many regions. I remember the first time I saw the Moiseyev folk troupe on tour as a child, and I was transfixed by the sheer force of the dancing. This translates into a larger pool of male skaters, I think. (And they still manage to find plenty of guys to play hockey!) By contrast, Scandinavia sounds like the U.S. and Canada. (Though Canadians have a long and splendid heritage of solid pairs and fine ice dancers.)

I love that Sweden and Finland are such stars at synchronized skating, though! One of the few international competitions they showed on American TV that I could actually get was won by a Swedish team, as I recall.

Yes we've had some success in synchro skating, but unless you're interested in skating, you never hear about this... It's funny when we talk about Sweden as a country of gender equity and equal opportunities for both sexes. This hasn't come down to sports so far... And I think you have some points there on Russia and dance, and arts in general as well.
 

MalloryArcher

On the Ice
Joined
Apr 4, 2013

You really think so???:unsure: I mean, she lands some jumps, but her spins are so slow, she has no stretch or elegant line, she really doesn't hold her moves, she has very limited performance skills, and she picked a Xena-themed program that is every bit as tacky as a Xena program seems like it would be. She just isn't a star and to me she isn't fun or interesting to watch. Her sister was more elegance but is having difficulties with the jumps.

I think Jenni Saarinen could develop into a nice performer in a few years, as could the other Finnish girl Liubov Efrimenko if she gets some decent choreography.
 

LuisRollerArg

On the Ice
Joined
Aug 29, 2013
She was sucessfully behind her posibilities.. never can do a "clean program".... Viktoria is like Kiira, stylish and jazzy, very old school... Jenni is awesome, Efrimenko is... mmmm, no interesting....
 

TMC

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 27, 2014
Thanks to those of you who live in Scandinavia and Finland for your insights and information! It's always interesting to me to see how different cultures view skating. One thing about Russia that has given it a terrific advantage in the paired disciplines (pairs and ice dancing) is the traditional idea that dance is a manly pursuit. I think this comes from the powerful folk dance tradition in so many regions. I remember the first time I saw the Moiseyev folk troupe on tour as a child, and I was transfixed by the sheer force of the dancing. This translates into a larger pool of male skaters, I think. (And they still manage to find plenty of guys to play hockey!) By contrast, Scandinavia sounds like the U.S. and Canada. (Though Canadians have a long and splendid heritage of solid pairs and fine ice dancers.)

I love that Sweden and Finland are such stars at synchronized skating, though! One of the few international competitions they showed on American TV that I could actually get was won by a Swedish team, as I recall.

Thanks Olympia for this: "...those who live in Scandinavia and Finland"! It's one of my biggest pet peeves when people say that Finland is part of Scandinavia. It's not, though it is one of the five Nordic countries. Most people even in Finland don't know this and refuse to believe when corrected :laugh: For instance, I worked as a trainee in the Finnish foreign office, and most of my superiors there didn't know this!!! :rolleye:
 

sky_fly20

Match Penalty
Joined
Nov 20, 2011
Thanks Olympia for this: "...those who live in Scandinavia and Finland"! It's one of my biggest pet peeves when people say that Finland is part of Scandinavia. It's not, though it is one of the five Nordic countries. Most people even in Finland don't know this and refuse to believe when corrected :laugh: For instance, I worked as a trainee in the Finnish foreign office, and most of my superiors there didn't know this!!! :rolleye:

who would think Finland is a Nordic Country :unsure:
it doesnt even speak a Scandinavian langauge branch

they are finno-ugric uralic branches that originated in the Urals in Russia
 

ILoveFigures

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 3, 2011
I heard that Joshi is training triple axel, is it true?

It is true, and her attempts are really good. You can see it on her instagram page @joshihelgesson

who would think Finland is a Nordic Country :unsure:
it doesnt even speak a Scandinavian langauge branch

they are finno-ugric uralic branches that originated in the Urals in Russia

Finland is actually bilingual. In Western Finland they speak Swedish.
 
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