Tiny Vahamaa Skates Big

Jenni Vahamaa

August 21, 2006
Article & Photo © J. Barry Mittan 

Finland's tiny Jenni Vahamaa, who turned 14 in May, was one of the biggest crowd favorites at the 2006 World Junior Figure Skating Championships and one of the biggest surprises in the final standings. The lively youngster, who wanted to point out that she is now 147 centimeters in height, not 142 as listed in the press guide, finished eighth in a field of 53 ladies. That's an impressive feat for someone competing in her first ISU championship.

Vahamaa, who finished second in juniors in Finland in the 2005-06 season earned an entry to Junior Worlds by winning the Nordic Championships in February. "My goal for the season was to go to Nordics," she said. "But after I won, the association said I could go to Junior Worlds. I was surprised to go and I just wanted to do all my programs clean. And see what place I would get. I did not expect to be so high." Prior to her Junior Worlds appearance, Vahamaa had placed 19th at the ISU Baltic Cup Junior Grand Prix in Poland in 2005.

Vahamaa has been skating since she was four. "My godmother was a competitive skater and we went together to the ice," Vahamaa said. "My brother is also an athlete. He was third at the Finnish squash championships after only one year. My parents are not top athletes, but they enjoy sports." Vahamaa likes jumping, especially the salchow and the toe loop. She landed her first triple salchow at 12 and is working on the triple flip, lutz and loop as well as a triple toe-triple toe combination. "They are almost ready, but not quite clean," she said. "My coach is very precise and won't let me have them in my program until the jumps are better."

The Finnish charmer, whose idol is Tara Lipinski, already does a triple salchow-double toe combination in the short. She also included a triple salchow-double toe-double loop, double axel-double toe and double lutz-double loop combination in her long as well as a double axel, triple salchow and triple toe loop. "Learning new things is the most exciting for me," she said. "I feel joy when I learn a new jump. I got ideas for new elements from Junior Worlds."

Virpi Horttana coaches Vahamaa, who trains in Espoo for only an hour and a half on the ice six days a week. She also does ballet and gymnastics for skaters plus jump training off ice. In the summer, she also runs. Vahamaa chooses her music together with her coach and plans to have two new programs for 2006-07 since she has used both of her programs for two years now. "I want to do something different than I did before," she said. "I have to feel something when I hear the music, so it feels like my music. And it has to have a nice melody."

Maria McLean choreographs her programs. Last season, for the short, Vahamaa used "Reflection of Passion" by Yanni and for the long, "Overture from Mack and Mabel" by Jerry Herman. For an exhibition program, Vahamaa used Bocelli's "Time to Say Goodbye". "I picked that," she said. "It's very beautiful music for a gala program. I like entertaining." This season, she will be using "O Mio Babbino Caro" for the short and "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini by Sergei Rachmaninoff for the long. Off ice, she said, "I like all kinds of pop music. I don't have any special favorites but I like the top ten."

For fun, she likes to listen to music, go out with her friends, and go shopping. She only goes to a few minutes but cited "Love Actually" as her favorite. She also likes to go on here computer and look at the skating websites. With her family, she also likes to go skiing and snowboarding but hates swimming. She doesn't collect anything special, but keeps any gifts she receives on the ice in her room.

The teenager from Lohja is currently in seventh grade where her favorite subjects are physical education and crafts. She enjoyed drawing, painting and knitting, but only in school. She has no career plans but said, "I want to do something in sports, maybe as a coach. Sports are number one to me, then school."

As for her skating future, Vahamaa said, "I want to keep skating as long as I have joy in it and I'm developing my skills. Next season, I want to find new ways of skating and do better in the Junior Grand Prix. I also want to come back to Junior Worlds."