Credit: ISU
Clean medal sweep for Russia
Ice Dancers Victoria Sinitsina/Nikita Katsalapov and Alena Kostornaia completed a clean gold medal sweep for Russia as competition at the ISU European Figure Skating Championships 2020 concluded in Graz (AUT) with the Free Dance and the Ladies Free Skating on Saturday. Russia dominated the competition, taking ten out of 12 possible medals.
Sinitsina/Katsalapov (RUS) take their first European title
Russia’s World silver medalists Victoria Sinitsina/Nikita Katsalapov upset five-time and defending European Champions Gabriella Papadakis/Guillaume Cizeron of France to take their first European title at the ISU European Figure Skating Championships in Graz (AUT) on Saturday. Alexandra Stepanova/Ivan Bukin, also from Russia, claimed the bronze, their fourth European medal.
Sinitsina/Katsalapov delivered a smooth and fluid dance to “Songs My Mother Taught Me” by Anton Dvorak, completing intricate steps and beautiful lifts. The 2019 World silver medalists collected a level four for the twizzles, the lifts and the spin while the one foot step sequence was rated a level four and three and the serpentine step sequence a level three. The Russian Champions posted a new personal best of 131.69 points and totaled 220.42 points to overtake the leading French team and win by just 0.14 points. Sinitsina/Katsalapov are the first Russian Ice Dance team to claim gold at the European Championships since Ekaterina Bobrova/Dmitri Soloviev won in 2013.
“Vika and I on our day off while we only had the practice and this morning we were not focusing on taking something, but to show our performance, show our program the way we trained and if possible skate clean and show all we can. I think we did that today and we are so happy. I can't say we expected to be sitting in the middle,“ Katsalapov noted. “To get anywhere near Gabriella (Papadakis) and Guillaume (Cizeron) seemed impossible for all the skaters. But we are all athletes and everyone who works and improves every day,” he continued.
Papadakis/Cizeron gave another stunning performance of their poetic dance to “Find Me” by Forest Blakk and music by Olafur Arnalds. The four-time World Champions collected a level four for their lifts, twizzles and the spin. However, the one foot step sequence garnered a level two for her and a level three for him. The five-time European Champions scored 131.50 points and slipped to second at 220.28 points.
“We knew the competition was very close so yes, we knew we didn't have room for mistakes and we made them,” Papadakis admitted. “We were happy with the performance and how we dealt with the competition and the stress. It's our 7th European Championships and we won five of them which is huge we are already very proud and especially proud of how we did this week. We can't always win and we accept it, it's a lesson for us that we probably needed. We can't wait to work and improve for the Worlds,” she added.
Stepanova/Bukin’s danced to “Experience” by Ludovico Einaudi and “Cry Me a River” featured excellent twizzles and lifts as well. The 2019 European silver medalists picked up a personal best with 127.64 points and accumulated 211.29 points overall to move up from fourth to third place.
“Last year, we were silver medalist, so bronze this year, I wouldn’t say it is a step back as the competition was extremely tough. We are pleased that we are on the podium. Most of all we’re happy that we skated well and with emotions,” Bukin said. “We were enjoying the other couples’ performances. We are so happy for Vika (Sinitsina) and Nikita (Katsalapov), it has been long since Russia won the Ice Dance event. But we also love the French, Gabriella (Papadakis) and Guillaume (Cizeron) and wish them the very best,” he continued.
2019 European bronze medalists Charlene Guignard/ Marco Fabbri (ITA) turned in a solid performance to “Space Oddity” and “Major Tom”, but dropped from third to fourth at 205.58 points. 2019 Skate Canada bronze medalists Lilah Fear/Lewis Gibson (GBR) pulled up one spot to fifth at 192.34 points with an upbeat Madonna Medley. Tiffani Zagorski/Jonathan Guerreiro (RUS) finished sixth with 188.03 points.
Kostornaia leads Russian A team to Ladies podium sweep in Graz
Alena Kostornaia led the Russian “triple A team” to another podium sweep as competition wrapped up at the ISU European Figure Skating Championships in Graz (AUT) on Saturday. Anna Shcherbakova claimed the silver and the bronze went to Alexandra Trusova. All three competed in their first senior-level ISU Championships.
Kostornaia opened her program to “Twilight” and “Supermassive Black Hole” with a big triple Axel-double toeloop combination followed by another triple Axel and five more triples and exquisite spins and footwork. The only error came when she missed her last jump, a triple Lutz. Kostornaia ranked second in the Free Skating with 155.89 points, but held on to first place overall at 240.81 points. “I am just really happy that I am here at all and ended up on podium. When I came to this competition, I didn‘t think about my chances to win. I just wanted to deliver decent performances,” the 16-year-old said. “All I felt in the practices - the pain the humiliation, first and most of all it all was worth it.”
Skating to “Six Gnossiennes” and “Firebird”, Shcherbakova hit a quad Lutz-triple toe and four clean triple jumps including a triple flip-Euler-triple Salchow combination. However, the Russian Champion fell on another quad Lutz attempt and underrotated the quad flip and a triple loop. She scored 159.81 points and won the Free Skating segment, but remained in second overall at 237.76 points. “I was surprised and upset, the beginning was so good, the first jumps were so good but then the emotions went down because I was not raising the program, so it was not what I was looking for,” the ISU Grand Prix Final silver medalist noted.
Trusova went for three quads as well in her routine to “Game of Thrones” and landed quad toe-triple toe as well as five triples, but missed the quad Lutz and the second quad toe attempt. The ISU Grand Prix Final bronze medalist earned 150.39 points and totaled 225.34 points. “I didn’t think about placements. I just wanted to perform my program well but it didn‘t happen. I want to train and to improve,” the 15-year-old told the press. “I am really pleased I got on the podium and that we at our young age are here at Europeans and will go to Worlds”, she added.
Alexia Paganini (SUI) came fourth with a solid performance except for one fall (192.88 points).
Emmi Peltonen (FIN) placed fifth on 181.79 points followed by Ekaterina Ryabova (AZE) in sixth (181.49 points).