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Laura Lepistö

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Laura Anneli Lepistö (born 25 April 1988) is a Finnish former competitive figure skater. She is the 2010 world bronze medalist, the 2009 European champion, and a two-time (2008 and 2010) Finnish national champion.

Laura Lepistö
Lepistö at 2009 Skate Canada.
Born (1988-04-25) 25 April 1988 (age 36)
Espoo
Height1.64 m (5 ft 4+1⁄2 in)
Figure skating career
CountryFinland
CoachVirpi Horttana
Skating clubEspoon Jäätaiturit
Began skating1992
RetiredMarch 25, 2012
Medal record
Figure skating: Ladies' singles
Representing  Finland
World Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2010 Turin Ladies' singles
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 2009 Helsinki Ladies' singles
Silver medal – second place 2010 Tallinn Ladies' singles
Bronze medal – third place 2008 Zagreb Ladies' singles

After missing two seasons with various injuries, Lepistö announced on March 25, 2012, that she would not return to competitive skating.

Personal life

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Lepistö was born in Espoo, Finland. In September 2010, she started her higher education studies at the Aalto University School of Economics in Helsinki, Finland.[1] In 2016, she received her master's degree in marketing.[2] She married her longtime boyfriend, Tommi Huovinen, on July 11, 2015.[3] In August 2018, she began working as brand manager for Riedell skates [4]

Career

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Lepistö started skating at the age of four, following her older sister's lead.[5] She trained in Espoo and Vierumäki in Finland, Boston in the United States, and Tallinn and Tartu in Estonia.[5][6]

2002–2003 season

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Lepistö at the 2010 European Championships.

Lepistö won the silver medal on the junior level at the Gardena Spring Trophy and the junior gold medal at the Warsaw Cup. She won the gold medal on the junior level at the 2003 Finnish Championships.

2003–2004 season

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Lepistö debuted on the ISU Junior Grand Prix circuit. She placed 12th at the 2003–04 ISU Junior Grand Prix event in Bulgaria and 8th at the event in Croatia. She placed 5th on the junior level at the 2004 Finnish Championships and won the bronze medal on the junior level at the 2004 Nordic Championships.

2004–2005 season

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Lepistö competed on the Junior Grand Prix circuit. She won the event in Belgrade and placed 9th at the event in Romania. She then won the junior national title at the 2005 Finnish Championships and the silver medal on the junior level at the 2005 Nordic Championships.

2005–2006 season

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Lepistö competed on the 2005 Junior Grand Prix circuit. She won the bronze medal at the event in Andorra and placed 4th in the event in Bulgaria. She placed 4th in her senior national debut at the 2006 Finnish Championships, and then won another junior silver medal at the 2006 Nordic Championships. She went on to make her World Junior debut, placing 9th.

2006–2007 season

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Lepistö competed at one event on the Junior Grand Prix series, finishing 5th at the event in Slovakia. She then missed much of the season due to injury, having developed a stress fracture in her right hip as a result of practicing too many triple loops.[5] She came back to compete at the senior 2007 Finnish Championships, where she won the silver medal. She won the senior silver medal at the 2007 Nordic Championships. She competed at the 2007 Junior Worlds, where she placed 7th.

2007–2008 season

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Lepistö during her short program at the 2007 Nebelhorn Trophy.

In the 2007–2008 season, Lepistö began competing entirely on the senior level. She won the bronze medal at the 2007 Nebelhorn Trophy and placed 4th at the 2007 Finlandia Trophy. She then debuted on the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating circuit. At her first event, the 2007 Skate Canada International, she won the short program but dropped to 7th overall after the free skate. She placed 5th in her second event, the 2007 NHK Trophy. Lepistö won the 2008 Finnish Championships and went on to the 2008 European Championships where, competing there for the first time, she won the bronze medal.[5] She then placed 8th in her World Championship debut.

2008–2009 season

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Lepistö won the silver medals at the 2008 Nebelhorn Trophy and the 2008 Finlandia Trophy. She won the bronze medal at the 2008 Cup of China and was 5th at the 2008 NHK Trophy. At the 2009 Finnish Championships, she won the silver medal. She went on to the 2009 European Championships, where she won the title in front of her home crowd. She was the first Finn to win the ladies single's title, and second overall after Susanna Rahkamo / Petri Kokko's 1995 ice dancing title.[7] It was also the first time Finns took two spots on the European podium as Susanna Pöykiö won bronze in the event.[7]

Lepistö finished 6th in her second World Championship appearance.

2009–2010 season

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Lepistö at the 2010 European Championships.

Lepistö's assigned Grand Prix events were the 2009 NHK Trophy, where she again finished fifth, the 2009 Skate Canada International, where she received the bronze medal. She won back her national title, but was unable to defend her European title, finishing second behind Carolina Kostner. Lepisto finished 6th at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, the best result by a Finnish lady at the event. In March 2010, she won the bronze medal at the World Championships in Turin, becoming the first Finnish ladies single skater to win a World Championship medal.[8]

Injuries and retirement

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For the 2010–11 Grand Prix season, Lepistö was assigned to Skate Canada and Skate America, but had to withdraw from both events due to an Achilles tendon injury.[9] She also missed the European Championships but recovered in time to train for the 2011 World Championships. However, she suffered a back injury in early March, causing her to withdraw from the event.[10] She said, "I fell on my lower back at full speed when the blades of my skates caught together. The heavy bump has led to a situation where my back has kept locking up."[9] Lepistö was back in full training in June 2011 and landed a new sponsor, KPMG.[11] She was assigned to 2011 Skate America and 2011 Trophee Eric Bompard for the Grand Prix season. However, by July when she was training in Toronto with Brian Orser, pain in her foot grew so severe she could not put on her skates.[12] She said, "There is repeated stress to the same landing foot and this time one of the nerves in my foot was provoked and it became very painful."[12] She was able to return to training in mid-August with a pair of custom-made skates,[12] but her injury problems continued.[13] Lepistö withdrew from both Grand Prix events. In November, she said she was unable to wear skates for more than 15 minutes due to the nerve problem and would miss the entire season to allow her leg to heal fully.[14]

Lepistö was invited by Champions on Ice to skate in the 21st annual Paektusan Festival in North Korea in February 2012 which was used to honor the memory of Kim Jong-il.[15][16][17] After receiving permission from Finland's Ministry of Education and Culture, she performed in the event, along with other elite skaters, but later issued an apology.[15]

On 25 March 2012, Lepistö announced her decision to retire from competitive skating, stating that she no longer felt the same passion for skating as she had in the past.[18][19][20] She has worked for the Finnish Olympic Committee, co-founded a sports marketing and athlete management company (Snou Creative), and became an ambassador and TV commentator for the 2017 World Championships in Helsinki, Finland.[2]

Programs

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Lepistö performs a catch foot layback spin at the 2008 NHK Trophy.

Post–2012

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Season Free skating
Pro-am events
2014–2015
[21]
  • Lohtu - Live Aid Uusi Lastensairaala 2017
2013–2014
2012–2013
[22][23]
  • Malaguena (fandangos)

Pre–2012

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Season Short program Free skating Exhibition
2011–2012
[24][12]
2010–2011 Did not compete
2009–2010
[6]
2008–2009
[25]
  • Imagined Oceans
    by Karl Jenkins
  • Ballad
    (from 'Klaani')
    by Päivi Portaankorva
2007–2008
[26]
  • Don Juan DeMarco
    by Michael Kamen
2006–2007
[27]
  • The Legend of 1900
    by Ennio Morricone
2005–2006
[28]
  • The Feeling Begins
    by Peter Gabriel
  • Lost City
    by Henri Seroka
  • Harem
    by Sarah Brightman
2004–2005
[29]
  • Invierno Porteño
    by Astor Piazzolla
  • Liberty
    by Luis Munoz
  • Redemption
    by Tonino Baliardo
  • Harem
    by Sarah Brightman

Competitive results

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Lepistö (right) on the podium at the 2010 World Championships.
 
Lepistö (center) on the podium at the 2009 European Championships.

GP = Grand Prix; JGP = Junior Grand Prix

International[30]
Event 02–03 03–04 04–05 05–06 06–07 07–08 08–09 09–10
Olympics 6th
Worlds 8th 6th 3rd
Europeans 3rd 1st 2nd
GP Cup of China 3rd
GP NHK Trophy 5th 5th 5th
GP Skate Canada 7th 3rd
Finlandia Trophy 4th 2nd 2nd
Nebelhorn Trophy 3rd 2nd
Nordics 2nd
International: Junior[30]
Junior Worlds 9th 7th
JGP Andorra 3rd
JGP Bulgaria 12th 4th
JGP Croatia 8th
JGP Czech Rep. 5th
JGP Romania 9th
JGP Serbia 1st
Gardena 2nd J
Nordics 3rd J 2nd J 2nd J 2nd J
Warsaw Cup 1st J 1st J
National[30]
Finnish Champ. 1st J 5th J 1st J 4th 2nd 1st 2nd 1st
Team events
Japan Open 1st T
2nd P
J = Junior level
T = Team result; P = Personal result; Medals awarded for team result only.
Pro-am events[30][31]
Event 2012–13 2014–15
Medal Winners Open 5th 4th

References

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  1. ^ Peltonen, Anu (14 September 2010). "Huippu-urheilijan sisulla Kauppakorkeakouluun". hse.fi (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 1 October 2011.
  2. ^ a b Luchianov, Vladislav (21 March 2017). "Lepistö promises exciting atmosphere in Helsinki". IceNetwork.com.
  3. ^ "Vau, mikä morsian! Laura Lepistö meni naimisiin". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). 11 July 2015. Archived from the original on 11 July 2015. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
  4. ^ Riedell skates twitter 8-14-2018
  5. ^ a b c d Mittan, Barry (10 February 2008). "Flying Finn". GoldenSkate.com. Retrieved 11 March 2011.
  6. ^ a b "Laura Lepistö: 2009/2010". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 4 May 2010.
  7. ^ a b "Laura Lepistö wins European title in front of ecstatic home audience". Helsingin Sanomat. 26 January 2009. Archived from the original on 22 September 2011. Retrieved 29 March 2011.
  8. ^ "Laura Lepistö wins bronze at World Figure Skating Championships in Torino". Helsingin Sanomat. 29 March 2010. Retrieved 29 March 2011.
  9. ^ a b "Laura Lepistö unable to participate in World Championships in Japan after all". Helsingin Sanomat. 8 March 2011. Retrieved 29 March 2011.
  10. ^ "Lepistö to Miss World Championships". YLE. 7 March 2011. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  11. ^ Jokinen, Leena (9 June 2011). "Laura Lepistö harjoittelee jälleen" [Laura Lepistö back in training] (in Finnish). Ilta-Sanomat. Archived from the original on 11 June 2011. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
  12. ^ a b c d Paasonen, Elina (9 November 2011). "Laura Lepistö: Overcoming Injuries". IFS Magazine. Archived from the original on 2 April 2012. Retrieved 10 November 2011.
  13. ^ "Lepistö puhkesi kyyneliin – tiedotustilaisuus keskeytyi" [Lepisto burst into tears] (in Finnish). MTV3. 3 October 2011. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  14. ^ "Lepistön kausi ohi – uran jatko vaakalaudalla" [Lepistö's season over and continuation of career at stake]. YLE (in Finnish). 9 November 2011. Archived from the original on 13 February 2013. Retrieved 9 November 2011.
  15. ^ a b "Figure skater Laura Lepistö regrets the distress her trip to North Korea may have caused". Helsingin Sanomat (International Edition). 21 February 2012.
  16. ^ Tuohinen, Petteri (18 February 2012). "Pohjois-Korea ylisti luistelijoita". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish).
  17. ^ Mäkinen, Esa (24 February 2012). "Lepistön luistelunäytöksessä luvattiin kuolla Kimin puolesta". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish).
  18. ^ Rutherford, Lynn (25 March 2012). "Lepisto announces retirement from competition". Ice Network.
  19. ^ "Lepistö: En ole löytänyt enää intohimoa" [Laura Lepisto: I have not found more passion]. YLE (in Finnish). 25 March 2012. Archived from the original on 26 March 2012.
  20. ^ "Laura Lepistö lopettaa uransa" [Laura Lepistö ends her career]. Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). 25 March 2012.
  21. ^ 木下グループpresents メダル・ウィナーズ・オープン2015 [Kinoshita Group presents Medal Winners Open 2015] (Television production, BS-TBS) (in Japanese). Japan: TBS. January 17, 2015.
  22. ^ "Medal Winners Open". Golden Skate. Archived from the original on October 12, 2014. Retrieved October 12, 2014.
  23. ^ 木下グループ メダル・ウィナーズ・オープン2012 [Kinoshita Group Medal Winners Open 2012] (Television production) (in Japanese). TV Tokyo. October 8, 2012.
  24. ^ "Laura Lepistö: 2011/2012". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 15 October 2012.
  25. ^ "Laura Lepistö: 2008/2009". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 30 June 2009.
  26. ^ "Laura Lepistö: 2007/2008". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 11 June 2008.
  27. ^ "Laura Lepistö: 2006/2007". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 1 July 2007.
  28. ^ "Laura Lepistö: 2005/2006". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 16 August 2006.
  29. ^ "Laura Lepistö: 2004/2005". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 8 March 2005.
  30. ^ a b c d "Competition Results: Laura LEPISTÖ". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 12 July 2013.
  31. ^ "Medal Winners Open 2015 detailed results". Japan Skating Federation Official Results & Data Site. Archived from the original on January 16, 2015.
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