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Ari-Pekka Nurmenkari
* July 8, 1983 Helsinki180 cm, 75 kg
Present residence: Helsinki
Club: Helsingfors Skridskoklubb
Coach: Svetlana Kryukova
Ari-Pekka Nurmenkari will crown his long skating career with Olympic appearance. He earned his ticket to Vancouver in the last qualifying event, the Nebelhorn Trophy in Oberstdorf in September 2009. “A-P” has been the leading Finnish male skater since the turn of the millennium. In 2009 he took the best result of his career by finishing fourteenth at the European Championships in his home town Helsinki. Ari-Pekka is married and father of a little boy called Axel. His favourite hobbies are tennis, snowboarding and kart racing.
Achievements:
2003 WCh 28th, EurCh 27th.
2004 WCh 26th, EurCh 22nd.
2005 WCh 28th, EurCh 24th.
2006 WCh 29th, EurCh 23rd.
2007 WCh 25th, EurCh 23rd.
2009 WCh 27th, EurCh 14th.
2010 EurCh 22nd.
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Kiira Korpi
* September 26, 1988 Tampere
168 cm, 52 kg
Present residence: Tampere
Club: Tapparan Taitoluistelijat
Coaches: Maaret Siromaa, Susanna Haarala
Kiira Korpi’s best result so far is bronze medal at the European Championship of 2007 in Warsaw. Her progress has been steady except for the 2008/09 season, which was cut short by injury problems. Kiira’s favourite hobbies are yoga, pilates and snowboarding. She is studying for a degree in economics at the University of Tampere. Her father Rauno Korpi was the coach of the Finnish bronze-medal winning women’s ice hockey team at the Olympic Games of 1998 in Nagano. Kiira is one of the most popular athletes in Finland not least due to her radiant personality – which has even earned her the award for the most positive person in Finland 2006.
Previous Olympic Games:
2006 16th.
Other achievements:
2005 EurCh 13th.
2006 WCh 10th, EurCh 6th.
2007 WCh 14th, EurCh bronze.
2008 WCh 9th, EurCh 5th.
2009 EurCh 5th.
2010 EurCh 4th.
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Laura Lepistö
* April 25, 1988 Espoo164 cm, 50 kg
Present residence: Espoo
Club: Espoon Jäätaiturit
Coach: Virpi Horttana
Laura Lepistö’s rise to the world figure skating elite has been nothing short of spectacular. She won silver at her very first major competition at senior level, the European Championships of 2008 in Zagreb. One year later she took the one remaining step further in front of home audience in Helsinki. At the World Championships of 2009 in Los Angeles Laura finished sixth as the best European skater. She came second in the vote for the Finnish Athlete of the Year 2009 behind the skier Aino-Kaisa Saarinen. In her spare time Laura enjoys music, movies, golf and snowboarding.
Achievements:
2008 WCh 8th, EurCh bronze.
2009 WCh 6th, EurCh gold.
2010 EurCh silver.
