Matthias Versluis


Matthias Versluis is a Finnish figure skater. Competing in ice dancing with Juulia Turkkila, he has won three international medals and the 2019 Finnish national title. As a single skater, he is the 2014 Finnish national champion and competed in the final segment at two ISU Championships.

Personal life

Versluis was born on 18 July 1994 in Genolier, Switzerland, to a Finnish mother and Dutch father. He moved to Finland with his family when he was six months old. As of 2018, he is studying physiotherapy.

Career

Early career

Versluis began learning to skate in 2002. Tiiu Valgemäe coached him early in his career. In 2008, he debuted on the ISU Junior Grand Prix series, coached by Virpi Horttana, Sara Lindroos, and Arja Veijola. He competed at the 2012 and 2013 World Junior Championships, qualifying for the free skate at both events.
In December 2013, Versluis won the senior men's title at the 2014 Finnish Championships. He was selected to compete at the 2014 European Championships but withdrew due to a knee injury, sustained in training on 9 January 2014. His coaches were Virpi Horttana, Kati Perokorpi, and Henna Hietala. By 2015, he was being coached by Stefan Zins.
On 1 April 2016, the Finnish Figure Skating Association reported that Versluis had teamed up with Juulia Turkkila to compete in ice dancing.

2016–2017 season: Debut of Turkkila/Versluis

Making their international debut, Turkkila/Versluis placed sixth at the NRW Trophy in November 2016. Later that month, they finished 13th at their first ISU Challenger Series assignment, the 2016 CS Tallinn Trophy. In December, they took the silver medal behind Cecilia Törn / Jussiville Partanen at the 2017 Finnish Championships. In February, they represented Finland at the 2017 Winter Universiade, finishing eighth.

2017–2018 season

Turkkila/Versluis competed at a pair of Challenger Series competitions – placing 10th at the 2017 CS Lombardia Trophy and 15th at the 2017 CS Finlandia Trophy – and then finished 13th at the International Cup of Nice. In November, they won bronze at the Ice Challenge in Austria. In December, they repeated as national silver medalists, again finishing second to Törn/Partanen.

2018–2019 season

Turkkila/Versluis began their season with three Challenger Series events – they finished sixth at the 2018 CS Lombardia Trophy, seventh at the 2018 CS Ondrej Nepela Trophy, and sixth at the 2018 CS Finlandia Trophy. In October, the duo won silver at the Minsk-Arena Ice Star. In November, they debuted on the Grand Prix series, placing sixth at the 2018 Grand Prix of Helsinki, and then took bronze at the Warsaw Cup. The following month, they became the Finnish national champions and were selected to compete at the 2019 European Championships in Minsk, Belarus, where they placed eleventh. They then competed at their first World Championships, placing sixteenth.

2019–2020 season

Turkkila sustained a neck injury in a practice session at the 2019 CS Lombardia Trophy, compelling the team to withdraw from the competition. They subsequently also withdrew from the 2019 CS Finlandia Trophy and the 2019 Rostelecom Cup, their Grand Prix assignment for the year.

Programs

Ice dancing with Turkkila

Single skating

Competitive highlights

GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

Ice dancing with Turkkila

Single skating