Speaker Sauli Niinistö to skate at opening of European Championships

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Speaker of Parliament Sauli Niinistö (National Coalition Party), recently in the headlines for getting married again, has taken his responsibilities very seriously as the chairman of the organising committee of next week's ISU European Figure Skating Championships in Helsinki.
      Niinistö will be taking to the ice on Tuesday of next week at the opening ceremony, in the company of Susanna Rahkamo, one half of a former Finnish ice dance pairing that won the European title in 1995.
      Rahkamo, the President of the Finnish Figure Skating Association, is not willing to divulge as yet exactly what she and 60-year-old Niinistö - known as a very enthusiastic rollerblading fan - will be doing on the ice of the Helsinki Arena.
     
The European Championships get started on Tuesday in a very Finnish mood.
      The compulsory dance in the ice dancing this year will be the "Finnstep", which Rahkamo and her partner (and subsequent husband) Petri Kokko developed in collaboration with their coach Martin Skotnicky as their original dance when they won the 1995 title.
      The competition runs from Tuesday through until Sunday, and the first evening's entertainment will feature the opening ceremony, the compulsory ice dance segment, and the pairs' short programme.
     
Finnish colours will be flown at the event by three women in the ladies' competition (Kiira Korpi, Laura Lepistö, and Susanna Pöykiö, all of whom have a decent chance at getting among the medals), by Ari-Pekka Nurmenkari in the men's event, and by the ice dance pairing of Oksana Klimova and Sasha Palomäki.
      The official Finnish target is an ambitious one of two medals.
     
Tickets have been selling briskly for the competitions, and according to the games' secretary-general Henri Nordenswan already some 45,000 of the minimum target of 50,000 have been taken up.
      The most popular day is not surprisingly Saturday, when the ladies' free programme will be held.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Speaker of Parliament announces surprise marriage (5.1.2009)

Links:
  ISU European Figure Skating Championships 2009
  European Figure Skating Championships (Wikipedia)

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