Juho Pirinen (born 2 November 1995) is a Finnish ice dancer. With his current partner, Yuka Orihara, he is the 2019–20 Finnish national champion and a five-time Finnish national silver medalist (2022–26).
With former partner Monica Lindfors, he is the 2017 Finnish national junior champion and the 2018 Finnish national bronze medalist.
Personal life Pirinen was born on November 2, 1995, in Lappeenranta, Finland. In addition to figure skating, he enjoys photography and hiking.
Career Early career
Pirinen began figure skating in 2004. From 2007 to 2016, he competed as a singles skater and was a five-time Finnish junior national medalist, winning three silver medals and two bronze medals. He also competed at the 2014 World Junior Championships, where he finished thirty-third.
Following the end of his singles skating career, Pirinen decided to team up with Monica Lindfors and compete in the ice dance discipline. Coached by former Italian ice dancer, Maurizio Margaglio, in Helsinki, the duo won the 2016–17 Finnish Junior Championships, finished nineteenth at the 2017 World Junior Championships, and won bronze at the 2017–18 Finnish Junior Championships on the senior level. Their partnership would dissolve following the 2017–18 figure skating season.
Partnership with Orihara 2019–20 season: Finnish national title
In spring 2019, Pirinen's coach, Maurizio Margaglio, contacted Canadian ice dance coaches, Megan Wing and Aaron Lowe, upon learning that their student, Japanese-born ice dancer, Yuka Orihara's previous partnership had dissolved. Margaglio requested that Orihara travel to Helsinki to have a try-out with Pirinen. Orihara agreed to this request and following a successful tryout, she soon moved to Finland to train with Pirinen.
Deciding to represent Finland, the duo made their international debut at the 2019 CS Lombardia Trophy, where they finished eleventh. They then continued competing on the 2019–20 ISU Challenger Series, finishing fifth at the 2019 CS Warsaw Cup and seventh at the 2019 CS Finlandia Trophy. Orihara/Pirinen would also win bronze at the 2019 Volvo Open Cup and the 2019 Santa Claus Cup.
With top Finnish ice dancing team, Turkkila/Versluis not competing at the 2019–20 Finnish Championships, Orihara/Pirinen won the event by over forty points.
Selected to compete at the 2020 European Championships in Graz, Austria, the duo came in eighteenth place. They then closed their season with a fifth-place finish at the 2020 Egna Dance Trophy.
2020–21 season Although Orihara/Pirinen were assigned to make their Grand Prix series debut at the 2020 Internationaux de France, the event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The duo would not compete for the rest of the season.
2021–22 season Competing on the 2021–22 ISU Challenger Series, Orihara/Pirinen finished fifteenth at the 2021 CS Lombardia Trophy and twelfth at the 2021 CS Finlandia Trophy. They would follow it up with a fourth-place finish and a gold medal at the 2021 Trophée Métropole Nice Côte d'Azur and the 2021 NRW Trophy, respectively.
In December, Orihara/Pirinen won the silver medal at the 2021–22 Finnish Championships. They would end their season with another silver medal at the 2022 International Challenge Cup.
2022–23 season: Grand Prix debut
Beginning their season on the 2022–23 ISU Challenger Series, Orihara/Pirinen placed fourth at the 2022 CS Nepela Memorial and sixth at the 2022 CS Finlandia Trophy. They subsequently finished fourth at the 2022 Trophée Métropole Nice Côte d'Azur.
Debuting on the 2022–23 Grand Prix series, the duo finished eighth at the 2022 NHK Trophy and seventh at the 2022 Grand Prix of Espoo.
In December, they won their second consecutive silver medal at the 2022–23 Finnish Championships. Orihara/Pirinen would then end their season by winning silver at the 2022 Bavarian Open and bronze at the 2022 International Challenge Cup.
2023–24 season: World Championships debut
Orihara/Pirinen started the season by competing 2023–24 ISU Challenger Series, finishing sixth at the 2023 CS Nepela Memorial and at the 2023 CS Finlandia Trophy. They subsequently took gold at the 2023 Mezzaluna Cup.
Going on to compete at the 2023 Grand Prix of Espoo, Orihara/Pirinen finished sixth. They then won silver at the 2023–24 Finnish Championships. Selected to compete at the 2024 European Championships in Kaunas, Lithuania, the duo finished tenth.
With Finland having two berths for ice dance at the 2024 World Championships in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Orihara/Pirinen would make their World Championship debut in March, coming in sixteenth place.
2024–25 season
Orihara/Pirinen began the season by competing on the 2024–25 ISU Challenger Series, finishing fourth at both the 2024 CS Budapest Trophy and the 2024 CS Trophée Métropole Nice Côte d'Azur. Going on to compete on the 2024–25 Grand Prix circuit, they finished sixth at the 2024 NHK Trophy and the 2024 Finlandia Trophy.
In December, Orihara/Pirinen won the silver medal at the 2025 Finnish Championships.
Following a fourth-place finish at the 2025 Sofia Trophy, Orihara/Pirinen competed at the 2025 European Championships in Tallinn, Estonia. There, they scored personal bests in all competition segments and finished in seventh place overall. The following month, the pair won the silver medal at the 2025 International Challenge Cup.
Orihara/Pirinen subsequently closed the season by finishing fourteenth at the 2025 World Championships in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Their placement, in addition to Turkkila/Versluis's eleventh-place finish, won Finland two quotas for ice dance at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
2025–26 season In August, it was announced that Orihara/Pirinen would not be able to participate at the 2026 Winter Olympics due to Orihara not yet obtaining Finnish citizenship. They opened the season by placing sixth at the 2025 CS Nepela Memorial and winning gold at the 2025 Mezzaluna Cup. Going on to compete on the 2025–26 Grand Prix series, placing eighth at the 2025 NHK Trophy and seventh at the 2025 Finlandia Trophy.
In December, they won the silver medal at the 2026 Finnish Championships behind Turkkila/Versluis. The following month, they finished twelfth at the 2026 European Championships in Sheffield, England, United Kingdom.
At the 2026 World Figure Skating Championships, the pair finished in 22nd place in the rhythm dance and did not advance to the free dance.
Programs Ice dance with Yuka Orihara Season Rhythm dance Free dance Exhibition 2025–2026 Wannabe If U Can't Dance Stop Spice Up Your Life Moulin Rouge! Welcome To The Moulin Rouge! Backstage Romance So Exciting! (The Pitch Song) More More More! (Encore) Can't Wait Until Tonight
A Chorus Line Opening: I Hope I Get It One One (Finale)
Mary Poppins Returns Overture Trip a Little Light Fantastic End Title Suite Overture 2024–2025 Disco Inferno Love to You Baby Y.M.C.A. A Chorus Line Opening: I Hope I Get It One One (Finale) 2023–2024 Like a Prayer Love Song Express Yourself Chicago When You're Good to Mama Nowadays Nowadays/Hot Honey Rag Jet Set 2022–2023 I Like It Like That Dancing with a Stranger La Percussion Instruction My Jolly Sailor Bold We're Sinking Mary Poppins Returns Overture Trip a Little Light Fantastic End Title Suite Overture 2021–2022 Lean on Me Give Up the Funk Gabriel's Oboe 2020–2021 Mary Poppins Returns Overture Trip a Little Light Fantastic End Title Suite Overture 2019–2020 Near Light Waves
Ice dance with Monica Lindfors Season Short dance Free dance 2017–2018 Sway Me As Matado el Corazon Samba Notre-Dame de Paris 2016–2017 Tough Lover Amélie
Competitive highlights
Ice dance with Yuka Orihara
Ice dance with Monica Lindfors International Event 16–17 17–18 Tallinn Trophy 14th Bavarian Open 7th Egna Trophy 8th International: Junior Junior Worlds 19th Bavarian Open 14th Tallinn Trophy 12th NRW Trophy 18th National Finnish Champ. 1st J. 3rd
Men's singles JGP: Junior Grand Prix International Event 09–10 10–11 11–12 12–13 13–14 14–15 15–16 Cup of Tyrol 5th Nordic Championships 7th Santa Claus Cup 6th Tallinn Trophy 14th International: Junior Junior Worlds 33th Latvia 20th Poland 20th Bavarian Open 7th Challenge Cup 7th 2nd Cup of Tyrol Nordic Championships 5th 5th 6th Tallinn Trophy 2nd Volvo Open Cup 5th National Finnish Champ. 7th 3rd J 2nd J 2nd J 2nd J 3rd J 7th
Detailed results Ice dance with Juho Pirinen
References
External links