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• Einstein and elite gymnast Helmi Murto

  Kauppalehti

  
  

  06/19/2018 Tuula Kallio

  According to Einstein, anyone who has thought about as much of the theory of relativity would have come up with it. Helmi Murto, a most talented gymnast, said that more important than talent is to work hard, and one must never give up.

  ...

  The summer opens a lane for new issues and dreams. Enjoy the summer, your own sporting activities and summer nights - but also the rest and idleness that top athletes also need. Let us believe in success, for each of us can be our own life's einstein or helmimurto.

• "One must never give up."

  Helsingin Sanomat

  
  

  05/25/2018 Elisa Mäki

  Helmi Murto, a young talented artistic gymnast, says that to work hard is more important than being talented.

  Helmi Murto, who is a member of the Finnish national team in artistic gymnastics, is often asked if she is a relative of pole vaulter Wilma Murto. She is not. Still, both Murtos are hopes for the future of Finnish sport. They also go to the same sport high school, and train in the Alfa sports center in Turku. They have even been at the same courses. 18-year-old Helmi Murto won Northern European Championships on uneven bars in 2017, and she is one of the essential members of the Finnish national team in artistic gymnastics. She was only 13-years-old when she attended first time the Northern Europeans with the Finnish senior team. In artistic gymnastics, the age for seniors is 16. Murto has lots of medals from Finnish Championships. "She is pliable and light, and her lines are clean. She perceives herself infinitely well, that is, where she spins, whether it is about the transverse or longitudinal axis. And then, really, what she does, she does cleanly in tune", says the manager of Finnish WAG team Satu Murtonen.

  Murto practices six days a week. Only Sunday is free. On weekdays she trains two times a day, two hours in the morning and three and a half or four hours in the evening. She studies in the Kerttuli sport high school, there it is easy to combine studies and training. "I go through in four years, making it little easier", says Murto. There are still two years of studies, and Murto is not yet sure what to do after high school. Instead, the intentions in gymnastics career are clear. "I would like to represent Finland in Europeans, Worlds, Nordics and Northern Europeans this year. And the biggest dream would be to attend the Olympics", Murto says. Her career has not been easy. Just before 2014 junior European Championships she was injured on beam, and could not attend due to a fracture in metatarsus.
  "It was really hard. It was a preparation camp for Europeans where I injured. But it gave me just more motivation to try again."
  According to Murto, after the recovery session, it's first a little scary to come back to train with the apparatus the injury has happened. Courage to try again to meet the goals and eagerness to learn more and more keeps her going on. "After a couple of succesfull session, it is again easier though", she says. Two years after the metatarsus injury the she could not compete at all due to two shoulder injuries. First there was a fracture and when it was healed she suffered a rupture in the rotator cuff of the same shoulded.

• Murto has a Rauma background too - Do you remember judoka-Granö?

  Länsi-Suomi

  
  

  10/06/2017 STT-Länsi-Suomi

  Länsi-Suomi has already told on several occasions that the member of Finnish national team in artistic gymnastics World Championships, Franz Card, has family roots in Rauma. There is another Finnish gymnasts in the World Championships in Montreal, whose mother has also a Rauma backround. She is Helmi Murto.
  Her mother, former judoka Ullamari Murto won lots of medals in Finnish Championship with maiden name Granö.
  - I am usually training six times a week. I would like to go as far as I have the capacity. For the time being, I'm going to do this seriously, Granö the Finnish junior champion, told Länsi-Suomi in October 1986.
  And indeed, she did have the capacity. Among others, Ullamari Murto, who represented Kaigan, was Finnish champion both in junior and senior, bronze medalist in Nordic Championships and represented Finland in European Championships in the late eighties. She moved to Turku because of her studies and settled there.

• Further gold medals in Finnish Championsips to the city of Turku

  Turun Sanomat

  
  

  05/10/2015 Joni Hilden

  Also, the artistic gymnastics was successful for the city of Turku, when Helmi Murto won on beam (12.80) and was second both on uneven bars and floor exercise. The competition was very tight, and there was only 0,05 point difference to the winner both on bars and floor. Murto did not compete on vault.

• Promising artistic gymnast Helmi Murto of TuUL is drudging for success

  Turun Sanomat

  
  

  03/11/2014 Juuso Hämäläinen

  Helmi Murto has spent most of his life with artistic gymnastics. The young athlete nicknamed "Hessu" will be fourteen in July, but she started the gymnastics at the age of four. Murto remembers very well the time when she first walked into the world of gymnastics.
  - It was immediately fun, and there was a friendly group. My mom brought me to try in the gym, and I loved it here, Murto says.
  Of course, the training now compared to the training once she started, has naturally changed.
  - The number of weekly training has, of course, increased and now it is also in other ways harder, the girl representing Turun Urheiluliitto tells.

  And indeed, Murto trains as a professional. Only on Sunday, she has no training at all.
  - I have training seven times a week. On Mondays, I train twice, before and after the school.
  It takes time to be in the gym; the morning training takes about two hours, in the afternoon three and on Saturday for as long as four hours. According to a quick calculation, Murto spends around 21 hours in the Alfa Center in a week. She trains all four apparatus, but the young athlete's favorite is the floor. She admits that from time to time she is a bit tired after training, but training is also rewarding.
  - It's great to learn new drills and here I have also good friends.

  But, of course, she doesn't practice in the gym only for the joy of training. Murto is also a tough competitor. She attended the first international competition a few years ago in Sweden. The best memories are, however, over the past year and Northern Ireland, where Northern European Championships took place.
  - We were there as a team and finished fourth, Murto recalls.
  The next international competition can be very soon, as about a month away, qualifying for the Junior Nordic Championships will be held.
  - Those Nordics would be nice to be selected, "Hessu" sets her qualifying goal.
  And getting to the Nordics is not her only goal for this season. Murto would also like to attend the Junior European Championships in May.

• The Breakthrough Stars of 2017

  The Gymternet

  
  

  12/28/2017 Lauren Hopkins

  I didn’t know much about Helmi when I first saw her compete this year, but when she won the bronze medal at Finnish nationals — her first competition in two years — she definitely piqued my curiosity. Helmi missed her senior debut season due to injury, but when she returned it was as one of the country’s best, making the worlds team and winning the bars title at Northern Euros in the process.

  Many of Finland’s best gymnasts tend to peak when they’re a bit older, and the country’s top three international competitors are all in their early-to-mid 20s. For Helmi to compete at their level at 17 is huge, and as she continues to grow in the sport, I think she can do big things for this country. At the moment, her routines when hit are NCAA-esque, with clean and polished skills. I especially love what she can do on bars, and hope that’s where she continues to shine as she adds to her difficulty in the future.

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