The Finn took world and European indoor championship titles under the Estonian's coaching.

Nool, who took decathlon gold at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, was appointed coach to Vanninen, a combined events athlete, in November 2024,. The Finn had ended her partnership with her previous coach following an unsuccessful summer championship season.

On Tuesday, the 23-year-old Vanninen announced that she will now continue training under her compatriot Jarno Koivunen, and she will be relocating north of the Gulf of Finland, to Turku, next month.

"I am very excited. I believe I can create a home-like environment in Turku, and that is important to me. I have been travelling a lot lately, but Turku offers good training conditions and allows me to stay in one place," Vanninen said via a press release.

Vanninen praised Nool following her time training with him. "I learned a great deal under his guidance. Erki's strength is making training enjoyable. The experiences he brought with him from his own athletic career are something I could not have gained anywhere else," she said.

Nool was understanding of Vanninen's decision too. "Saga wanted to spend more time in Finland during the winter and spring. At one point she said she felt as though she was living in her car," Nool recounted.

"When [Estonian multi-event athlete] Pippi Lotta Enok, who trained together with Saga, was sidelined for six weeks through illness, Saga was training more or less on her own all the time, which she was not used to. I don't know if it's the right term, but she got homesick," Nool added.

Under Nool's guidance, Vanninen won the pentathlon in both the European indoor title and the World Athletics Indoor Championships last year. At the World Championships in Tokyo in last September, the Finn had to settle for seventh place in the heptathlon.

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