Jouni - The Journey
Jouni’s description of himself:
I’m a guy, who genuinely gets enthusiastic of things, and is willing to work hard in order to achieve any goals set. I like people a lot, and sometimes they like me back. I see the glass half-full, and life as an opportunity.
The journey:
When younger, Jouni was like any other kid. He had been participating in sports ever since he was a child, because he felt it was fun, and he made a lot of friends through sports. He spent his summers swimming, doing track & field and playing football, beach volley and soccer. "Sometimes you feel nostalgic when thinking of those days, there little worries for tomorrow". Usually the biggest concern was "what to do next?" or "from where can we get more ice cream ?". Usually he hung out with his friends 23 hours a day. During winter, the favourite pastimes were indoor sports and of course, hockey. Hockey became Jouni’s first great passion. "I think on those days everyone had dreams of getting to play in the NHL". However, the dreams of the NHL had to be buried, when Jouni was forced to quit hockey after comprehensive school due to financial problems.
After beginning his studies in high school, he found aerobics. At first, he was just gonna try it out. "I’m a person who likes to try new things". After just a month, he participated in his first competition. That made Jouni open up his eyes on how challenging the sport really is. All of his competitors were much better than him and, of course, a new face is always under close scrutiny. The former hockey goalie did not impress the judges, nor himself. "At that point, i was sure that was the end of my aerobics career! It’s not been too often that I’ve felt ashamed of myself, but that was definitely one of those occasions." But quitting doesn’t fit too well into Jouni’s personality. So, after a short break to gather his thoughts, Jouni returned to the gym. After that, it became hard work. Little by little, the training became more professional and in 2000, Jouni started training with the help of the two-time world champion, Pertti Sahlberg.