# Jenni Saarinen

Jenni Saarinen (born 9 March 1999) is a Finnish retired competitive figure skater. She is a two-time Challenger series bronze medalist, a two-time Nordics champion (2015, 2019), the 2018 Christmas Cup silver medalist, and the 2022 Finnish national champion. Saarinen represented Finland at the 2022 Winter Olympics.

## Personal life

Jenni Saarinen was born on 9 March 1999 in Espoo, Finland. She practiced gymnastics for five years as a child.

## Career
### Early years

Saarinen started skating when she was about five years old. She began competing on the junior international level in the autumn of 2012. She was assigned to the 2013 World Junior Championships in Milan, Italy, where she finished 14th.
Saarinen made her ISU Junior Grand Prix (JGP) debut and won the junior title at the 2014 Finnish Championships. She placed 13th at the 2014 World Junior Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria.

### Senior career

Saarinen continued competing on the JGP series before making her senior international debut at the 2014 Finlandia Trophy, a Challenger Series (CS) event. In November 2014, she won a bronze medal at the CS Volvo Open Cup. In the 2015 World Junior Championships in Tallinn, she placed 8th in the short program and 13th overall.
In the 2015–16 season, Saarinen was assigned to the 2015 Tallinn Trophy but withdrew before the short program. In December, she won the silver medal at the 2016 Finnish Figure Skating Championships, only 0.15 points behind Anni Järvenpää. She was 3rd in the short program and won the free skating.
Saarinen made her senior World Championship debut at the 2021 World Championships in Stockholm, placing twenty-fourth. This result qualified a place for Finland at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. The following season, Saarinen won the senior Finnish national title for the first time and made the free skate at the 2022 European Championships, finishing seventeenth; she originally finished eighteenth overall, but the retroactive disqualification of Kamila Valieva resulted in all other ladies singles skaters moving up a place. Named to the Finnish Olympic team, Saarinen placed twenty-fifth in the short program of the Olympic women's event. This would normally have had her one ordinal outside qualification to the free skate, but due to the controversial Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) decision allowing Valieva to compete in the event despite suspicion of illegal doping the International Olympic Committee decreed that twenty-five skaters would advance. Saarinen finished twenty-fourth overall; she originally finished twenty-fifth overall, but Valieva was disqualified by the CAS in 2024 and all skaters who originally placed fifth or lower moved up a place. She was twenty-fifth as well at the 2022 World Championships.
Illness delayed the start of Saarinen's 2022–23 season, while she also struggled with motivation and had it affect her everyday life. After finishing twelfth at the 2022 CS Ice Challenge, Saarinen decided that she would retire following the 2022 Grand Prix of Espoo, the second special Grand Prix event held in Finland. She placed ninth at the event and explained afterward that she had "a long, great career with ups and downs. I'm starting to get to the point in life where there are other things in life."

## Programs

| Season | Short program | Free skating | Exhibition |
| 2022–2023 | I Giorni Dona Nobis Pacem by Ludovico Einaudi performed by Angèle Dubeau & La Pietà choreo. by Adam Solya | I'll Take Care of You by Brook Benton performed by Beth Hart, Joe Bonamassa choreo. by Mark Pillay | Liebesträume No. 3 by Franz Liszt performed by Éva Polgár Scared to Be Lonely by Dua Lipa & Martin Garrix |
| 2021–2022 | Clair de lune by Claude Debussy choreo. by Adam Solya | Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor by Sergei Rachmaninov choreo. by Adam Solya | |
| 2020–2021 | Clair de lune by Claude Debussy choreo. by Adam Solya | Oriental by Raul Ferrando, Fathi Aljarah, Adam Hurst choreo. by Adam Solya | |
| 2019–2020 | Differente by Gotan Project choreo. by Mark Pillay | I'll Take Care of You by Brook Benton performed by Beth Hart, Joe Bonamassa choreo. by Mark Pillay | |
| 2018–2019 | Otoño Porteño (from Estaciones Porteñas) by Astor Piazzolla | I'll Take Care of You by Brook Benton performed by Beth Hart, Joe Bonamassa choreo. by Mark Pillay | |
| 2017–2018 | Otoño Porteño (from Estaciones Porteñas) by Astor Piazzolla | Angel by the Wings by Sia | |
| 2016–2017 | Otoño Porteño (from Estaciones Porteñas) by Astor Piazzolla | Human by Christina Perri | |
| 2015–2016 | Otoño Porteño (from Estaciones Porteñas) by Astor Piazzolla | The Mask of Zorro by James Horner | |
| 2014–2015 | Flamenco performed by Ikuko Kawai | El tiempo entre costuras by Cesar Benito El Falso Delphos L'Atelier Nas Ruas de Lisboa Una Maquina de Escribir | |
| 2013–2014 | Flamenco performed by Ikuko Kawai | Solitary Hill Canon in D Wind | |
| 2012–2013 | To the Fair (from Beauty and the Beast) by Alan Menken The Euphorium (from Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium) by Alexandre Desplat | Pop Quiz and The Time Machine Montage by Danny Elfman Fairytale by Harry Gregson-Williams, John Powell | |

## Competitive highlights

CS: Challenger Series; GP: Grand Prix; JGP: Junior Grand Prix
International :
| Event | 12–13 | 13–14 | 14–15 | 15–16 | 16–17 | 17–18 | 18–19 | 19–20 | 20–21 | 21–22 | 22–23 |
| Olympics | | | | | | | | | | 24th | |
| Worlds | | | | | | | | | 24th | 25th | |
| Europeans | | | | | | | | 33rd | | 17th | |
| GP Finland | | | | | | | | | | | 9th |
| CS Asian Open | | | | | | | | | | 5th | |
| CS Finlandia Trophy | | | 5th | | | | | 4th | | 12th | |
| CS Ice Challenge | | | | | | | | | | | 12th |
| CS Lombardia Trophy | | | | | | | | 9th | | | |
| CS Nebelhorn Trophy | | | | | | | | | 3rd | | |
| CS Tallinn Trophy | | | | WD | | 17th | | | | | |
| CS Volvo Cup | | | 3rd | | | | | | | | |
| CS Warsaw Cup | | | | | | | | 10th | | 9th | |
| Challenge Cup | | | | | | | | 8th | 12th | 10th | |
| Christmas Cup | | | | | | | 2nd | | | | |
| Cup of Tyrol | | | | 4th | | | | | | | |
| Denkova-Staviski | | | | | | 4th | | | | | |
| FBMA Trophy | | | | | 4th | | | | | | |
| Nordics | | | 1st | 4th | 12th | 6th | 1st | 3rd | | | |
| NRW Trophy | | | | | | | | | 3rd | 5th | |
| International: Junior ||||||||||||
| Junior Worlds | 14th | 13th | 13th | | | | | | | | |
| JGP Czech Rep. | | 7th | | | | | | | | | |
| JGP Japan | | | 9th | | | | | | | | |
| JGP Poland | | 10th | | | | | | | | | |
| JGP Slovenia | | | 9th | | | | | | | | |
| EYOF | | | 4th | | | | | | | | |
| Bavarian Open | | 1st | | | | | | | | | |
| Cup of Nice | 3rd | | | | | | | | | | |
| Ice Star | 1st | | | | | | | | | | |
| Nordics | 1st | 1st | | | | | | | | | |
| National ||||||||||||
| Finnish Champ. | 3rd J | 1st J | 2nd | 2nd | 2nd | 3rd | 3rd | 2nd | C | 1st | |
| J = Junior level; WD = Withdrew; C = Event Cancelled ||||||||||||

## Detailed results

Small medals for short and free programs awarded only at ISU Championships. Personal bests highlighted in bold.
2022–23 season :
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total |
| November 25–27, 2022 | 2022 Grand Prix of Espoo | 8 59.69 | 11 95.95 | 9 155.64 |
| November 9–13, 2022 | 2022 CS Ice Challenge | 11 51.60 | 10 101.68 | 12 153.28 |
| 2021–22 season |||||
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total |
| March 21–27, 2022 | 2022 World Championships | 25 55.30 | - | 25 55.30 |
| February 24–27, 2022 | 2022 Challenge Cup | 3 57.48 | 13 84.22 | 10 141.70 |
| February 15–17, 2022 | 2022 Winter Olympics | 24 56.97 | 24 96.07 | 24 153.04 |
| January 10–16, 2022 | 2022 European Championships | 15 58.93 | 18 101.39 | 17 160.32 |
| November 17–20, 2021 | 2021 CS Warsaw Cup | 2 68.71 | 16 96.14 | 9 164.85 |
| November 4–7, 2021 | 2021 NRW Trophy | 3 57.26 | 6 91.04 | 5 148.30 |
| October 13–17, 2021 | 2021 Asian Open Trophy | 3 62.25 | 8 92.20 | 5 154.45 |
| October 7–10, 2021 | 2021 CS Finlandia Trophy | 7 67.05 | 17 101.67 | 12 168.72 |
| 2020–21 season |||||
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total |
| March 22–28, 2021 | 2021 World Championships | 14 63.54 | 24 83.00 | 24 146.54 |
| February 25–28, 2021 | 2021 International Challenge Cup | 11 52.23 | 13 88.93 | 12 141.16 |
| November 26–29, 2020 | 2020 NRW Trophy | 6 51.92 | 3 96.03 | 3 147.95 |
| September 23–26, 2020 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy | 4 57.25 | 2 106.62 | 3 163.87 |
| 2019–20 season |||||
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total |
| February 20–23, 2020 | 2020 Challenge Cup | 4 61.03 | 13 93.82 | 8 154.85 |
| February 5–9, 2020 | 2019 Nordic Championships | 4 54.76 | 1 116.47 | 3 171.23 |
| January 20–26, 2020 | 2020 European Championships | 33 42.61 | — | 33 42.61 |
| November 14–17, 2019 | 2019 CS Warsaw Cup | 8 55.37 | 12 105.27 | 10 160.64 |
| October 11–13, 2019 | 2019 CS Finlandia Trophy | 4 60.06 | 4 121.14 | 4 181.20 |
| September 13–15, 2019 | 2019 CS Lombardia Trophy | 6 57.66 | 9 103.98 | 9 161.64 |
| 2018–19 season |||||
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total |
| February 7–10, 2019 | 2019 Nordic Championships | 1 56.07 | 1 106.56 | 1 162.63 |
| December 14–16, 2018 | 2019 Finnish Championships | 3 54.51 | 2 105.28 | 3 159.79 |
| 2017–18 season |||||
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total |
| February 4–8, 2018 | 2018 Nordic Championships | 4 50.31 | 6 84.70 | 6 135.01 |
| November 21–26, 2017 | 2017 CS Tallinn Trophy | 9 53.87 | 19 84.88 | 17 138.75 |
| 31 October – 4 November 2017 | 2017 Denkova-Staviski Cup | 2 55.93 | 8 79.58 | 4 135.51 |
| 2016–17 season |||||
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total |
| March 2–5, 2017 | 2017 Nordic Championships | 6 48.63 | 14 58.65 | 12 107.28 |
| January 5–7, 2017 | 2017 FBMA Trophy | 7 39.57 | 2 86.82 | 4 126.39 |
| December 15–18, 2016 | 2017 Finnish Championships | 3 52.25 | 2 87.24 | 2 139.49 |
| 2015–16 season |||||
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total |
| March 9–13, 2016 | 2016 Cup of Tyrol | 5 51.45 | 5 82.03 | 4 133.48 |
| February 24–28, 2016 | 2016 Nordic Championships | 4 54.37 | 4 94.32 | 4 148.69 |
| December 18–20, 2015 | 2016 Finnish Championships | 3 51.62 | 1 103.14 | 2 154.76 |
| 2014–15 season |||||
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total@ |
| March 2–8, 2015 | 2015 World Junior Championships | 8 55.43 | 15 84.07 | 13 139.50 |
| February 11–15, 2015 | 2015 Nordic Championships | 2 50.09 | 2 95.98 | 1 146.07 |
| January 26–28, 2015 | 2015 European Youth Olympic Winter Festival | 8 43.69 | 3 85.24 | 4 128.93 |
| November 18–22, 2014 | 2015 Finnish Championships | 2 52.81 | 2 104.19 | 2 157.00 |
| November 5–9, 2014 | 2014 CS Volvo Open Cup | 1 50.05 | 4 91.25 | 3 141.30 |
| October 9–12, 2014 | 2014 CS Finlandia Trophy | 6 48.55 | 4 95.61 | 5 144.16 |
| 2013–14 season |||||
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total |
| March 10–16, 2014 | 2014 World Junior Championships | 8 53.76 | 13 87.26 | 13 141.02 |