Breaking my bubble!


Hi you, 
I hope you are healthy & doing something nice this summer! 

I haven't posted in a long time... 
I am really happy that I wrote things down when I was training in the US. During this summer I've had more time to think about my gymnastics journey & I thought that I could continue this blog. Many of my friends have been asking for my next post - so guys... here it is ;) 
I think it's also nice to write something down for myself & funny to read those years later... and perhaps I can develop my English at the same time :) 

So it's been like 1,5 years since my last post... After that, A LOT has happened. 

In this post, I writing more about my year of 2019:

At the beginning of 2019, I changed back to my old club Estt (Espoon Telinetaiturit). I felt that STVK (Suomen taitovoimisteluklubi) in Helsinki was just too far from home during the weekdays... Also this big new gym near to my home was tempting and many of my friends still trained at Estt, so the decision definitely felt more comfortable for me. Nowadays my coaches are Taina Teräs & my childhood coach Outi Leiste. I am glad about my decision and I absolutely love the atmosphere of my new group!

Still want to give a big shoutout to the girls & coaches at STVK -  you are all amazing. Good luck to practice!



Although my gymnastics trip to the US in 2018 was an incredible and very positive experience, I came home really tired... Turned out that I had overtraining syndrome/burn out. I know that many gymnasts can be going through the same, so I will do a whole other post about that. I would be really happy if the post can make some readers realize their own situation of overtraining earlier or maybe some gymnasts can prevent those situations and enjoy our beautiful sport even more :)

Now back to my year of 2019: At the start of February I got ankle surgery and it was a tough time getting through the recovery and stuff.

I think the surgery was a good thing (it also forced me to rest) but at that time it definitely sucked... I was really sad because I made so much progress in the US - so I was afraid that everything was wasted. 

It's always mentally really difficult to be injured. In our sport, injured athletes are always at the gym with the healthy gymnasts... so it's not nice to watch when everybody else is practicing and having fun while you are doing stretching or conditioning. Honestly, that was one thing killing me last year.

I have had so many injuries so I didn't think that was THE ONE stopping me. The thought of competing was definitely driving me forward! I think that I was also aware that gymnastics is more about the journey. I would still be lying if I say that it was easy. It was really depressing... But I believed that I still have a chance to reach my own potential and enjoy gymnastics again - and I did! 

+Ps. My family & friends have been SO BIG help for me during these setbacks in my career. I can't thank them enough...

I was able to start doing more with my ankle during the summer of 2019 & it felt great to do gymnastics again! After my two weeks long summer holiday, I started getting ready for fall competitions. Me & my friend Lea Bernards had fun and productive practices with our coach Heikki Niva. Thankful for his help during that summer!

I competed after a long time which was a REALLY big deal for me. It was obviously very scary to go & raise my hand to the judges! My performances went pretty good, especially on bars because I managed to do many new skills to my routine. I was really proud of myself & it felt amazing to compete with my friends!

I was also super happy that Lea reached her own goal (getting into the Finnish national team). We became closer after I changed back to my old club Estt. I love the vibe that we give each other in practice! (haha even though we are a real double trouble to our coaches at times...) 



Then in September, I visited MG Elite while I was in NYC with my family. I realized how much I missed everybody, and from the start of November till the end of December, I traveled back again. It was funny to be back in New Jersey, it felt like I never left. It was a lot easier to be back because nothing was completely new. I already knew almost everybody and I was more prepared for what to expect in practice. I practiced there for about two months & I got a lot of good stuff done. I made progress especially on vault and bars. I appreciate that I got a chance to improve my skills at MG Elite again! 


I stayed with my friend Ariel Posen's family. I always feel like home there! So grateful that I was able to share my experience with them. 

+ Ps I love their humor, and we were able to make so many inside jokes in such a short period of time... That was awesome :D



Overall, I think 2019 was great for me. The year definitely started ugly but the rest of it was wonderful. Super glad that I didn't give up! 

My experiences reinforced one thing that I had already learned: YOU CAN'T TAKE ANYTHING FOR GRANTED. 

If you are a gymnast please remember to enjoy the WHOLE journey. Enjoy all the basic moments... the difficult practices & the hard conditioning... the sweat and the pain & the blood on your grips... the failures & MOST OF ALL enjoy the happy moments!

Make your journey look like you!

I wish you lots of strength & happy holidays. Be safe & stay healthy! <3

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