Yle: Juulia Turkkila and Matthias Versluis withdraw from the World Figure Skating Championships

Juulia Turkkila and Matthias Versluis have to miss the free program of the World Championships. Picture: MARTIN DIVISEK / EPA

Finnish couple Juulia Turkkila and Matthias Versluis does not participate in the ice dance free program of the World Figure Skating Championships in Prague.

The news is confirmed by the Finnish Figure Skating Association. He was the first to tell about it Yle.

Even the Finnish couple’s participation in the short program was uncertain due to Versluis’ back problems. The decision to compete was stretched until the very end on Friday.

Turkkila says that there was no way Versluis could have performed on Saturday.

“Yesterday was such a maximum effort for Matthias that his body was definitely not ready for it. This morning the situation was completely different from yesterday,” he says.

“Today, even skating and walking was already difficult.”

Versluis said on Monday that he suffered from back pain in training, but was confident at the time that he would recover in good enough shape for the World Cup programs.

However, the pain worsened in Prague on Wednesday. On Thursday, Versluis did not practice at all in rhythmic dance due to skating.

“Yesterday was made possible by the fact that Matthias was able to rest completely on Thursday. He received so much treatment and medication that on Friday morning the situation was a little better,” says Turkkila.

Turkey and Versluis finally got a handsome 78.03 points for their short program and were in a wonderful 11th place before the free dance. However, after the short program, Versluis’s back problems proved to be too bad to complete the free program.

The withdrawal of Turkkila and Versluis ensured that Finland will lose its second place in ice dance for the 2027 World Championships. The duo reached Finland’s second place in 2023.