From when YoHans toured Finland

So I was idly searching through old drives for something else entirely when this gem revealed itself. I am sure we are all familiar enough with the Finnish language not to need a translation… :wink:

I should think about finding a definitive date for this I suppose.

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@YOHANS @yyfben2.deactivated :finland:

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Here’s a quick translation I made. I’m guessing the article is from Helsingin Sanomat.

Yoyoing can carry you away (title cut short)

25-year-old Yo-Hans yoyos for a living. At the end of April, he toured six different cities in Finland performing and choosing our country a champion.

Jyväskylä, Reetta Salminen

If you have a dog at home, you can walk it like this, demonstrates the young man walking a spinning object at the end of a string on a stage at torikeskus. He is Yo-Hans, a yoyo world champion from Arizona, USA, visiting Finland. The name of the trick is spinnaus (= spinning) and it was the first trick of the virtuoso’s career.

Hans demonstrates his skills to people on their shopping trips who have stopped by the stage. A couple brave ones from the crowd get the chance to learn the basics of yoyoing.

Yo-Hans, real name Hans van der Elzen, toured six different cities in Finland at the end of April performing and judging the ProYo competition where the first Finnish champion was decided. The winner of the over-10-year-olds category from each city participated in the final organized at the end of April in Itäkeskus, Helsinki.

The Jyväskylä competition had twenty young participants. Their job was to perform ten required tricks that Yo-Hans first demonstrated to the competitors.

Caption: There are over 300 different yoyo tricks. Hans van der Elzen has been practicing yoyoing for eleven years and now he demonstrates his skills around the world. (Matti Salmi)

Second article is also yoyo related, but cut short in the picture

Pekka got to the finals in Helsinki

Before the performance of the world champion, young yoyo owners flocked around the stage.

Knots were tied to the competition equipment (sounds just as clumsy in Finnish) and the virtuoso guided the competitors for the upcoming challenge.

Friends Tuomas Helander, Niko Jaskin and Pekka kuittinen signed up for the competition…

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It’s from Keskisuomalainen, my local paper based in Jyväskylä (it’s pronounced just the way it is spelled).

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Finland was one of my favorite destinations during the Playmaxx years. Thank you for posting this article.

-Hans

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I have a really lame dad joke my 6 year old told me and I feel the need to share…

Where do Sharks go on Vacation?

FIN-land! :rofl:

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Glad you enjoyed it. I still remember meeting you there and you taking time to demonstrate how those new sleeper records were being set.

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