Korpi announces retirement from competition

Kiira Korpi , a three-time European medalist who became the face of Finnish figure skating in recent years, announced her retirement from competitive skating at a press conference in Helsinki on Thursday.

"The main emotion now, at the moment of the ending of my sports career, is gratefulness," Korpi told the media. "I'm so thankful of having had the pleasure to work with so many professionals. The encounters with different people, contacts, connections, having been able to bring joy through skating and other ways, sponsors, cooperation partners, the federation, the Olympic committee, the managers, my family -- everyone has been supporting me 100 percent. I just want to say thank you."

Korpi said she started considering the idea of hanging up her skates at the end of July.

"The decision took the time it needed to take," Korpi said. "I still love to skate."

In addition to winning three European medals, including a career-best silver in 2012, Korpi was crowned Finnish champion five times. She won two gold medals in the Grand Prix Series (2010 Trophée Éric Bompard, 2012 Rostelecom Cup) and qualified for the Grand Prix Final in 2012. Her best finish at the world championships was ninth (2008, '11), and she placed 11th at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver.

Korpi also noted that one of her greatest thrills as an athlete was getting to compete in front of her home fans at the 2009 European Championships in Helsinki.

Always a vision on the ice, Korpi was plagued by lower-body injuries in the latter part of her career, forcing her to miss several major competitions.

"It's a fact that my left foot never became the exact same [as] it was before," she said. "It will still develop, of course, but if I would have wanted to have my power (for jump takeoffs) back at the old level, I would have had to still do a lot of work."

Although she will no longer be competing, Korpi expressed a desire to remain active in the sport.

"I have already gotten a few invitations to skate in shows, and I'm glad about that because I didn't know how the transition would happen and if people would want to see me skating in shows," Korpi said. "It's special for me that I will also be able to skate in my home country, as it has been planned that I'd skate at the opening of Finlandia Trophy (in October)."

She said that she also might want to get into coaching and announced that next summer she will host a skating camp in Helsinki, at the same arena where the 2017 World Figure Skating Championships will be held. Another possible future endeavor is pilates; Korpi has practiced the exercise system for years and said that she would maybe like to pursue a career as an instructor.

Korpi also announced that she will be moving to Milan this fall to live with her boyfriend, Arthur Borges Seppälä, a former model who works in the fashion industry.

She said, "I try to live one day at a time now and try not to create a perfect plan (for the future). I'm confident there will be plenty of opportunities opening if I'm open (to them)."

Jyrki Pirkkalainen contributed to this report.