The 2016 ISU European Figure Skating Championships continued Friday in Bratislava, Slovak Republic with the Ladies Free Skating.
Evgenia Medvedeva (RUS) skates off with gold
Evgenia Medvedeva of Russia skated off with the gold medal and led a Russian sweep of the Ladies podium. It was the second consecutive Russian podium sweep in the Ladies event and the sixth in history.
Performing to “W.E.” and “Allegro”, Mevedeva reeled off a triple flip-triple toe, triple Lutz, triple Salchow-triple toeloop as well as two more triples and a double Axel-double toe-double toe combination as well as level-four spins and footwork. Her only error came when she fell on a double Axel. The Grand Prix Final Champion scored 142.90 points and totaled 215.45 points to win the European title in her debut at the event. “Today in the Kiss and Cry was the first time I cried from happiness. I can’t believe it, this is just impossible. I’m so happy and I’m European Champion today. Unfortunately I skated with a fall on the double Axel, this is so sad for me”, the World Junior Champion said.
Radionova put also out a strong performance to “Titanic”, landing a triple Lutz-triple toe, triple loop-single loop-triple Salchow combination as well as three other triple jumps and two double Axels. She just wobbled on the first Axel. The current World bronze medalist earned 139.03 points and accumulated 209.99 overall to repeat as silver medalist at the European Championships. “I think I skated the free pretty well, with a couple of small mistakes on some of the jumps. I know I can do better but I skated more or less as I planned. But I know I need to work more and now I know what I should work on and correct”, the 17-year-old commented.
Pogorilaya’s performance to “Sheherazade” featured a triple Lutz-triple toe, triple loop-single loop-triple Salchow combination and difficult spins and footwork, but she missed a triple Lutz and triple loop. The Muscovite scored 123.24 points which added up to 187.05 points and she took the bronze like a year ago. “I wasn’t particularly nervous, inside I was completely calm, I think it was just my body that was not so relaxed, so some of the jumps were hard. Of course I wanted to do the jumps better than I managed today but I think I showed all the emotions I could and told the story well”, the 17-year-old from Moscow told the press.
Angelina Kuchvalska (LAT) came fourth with 176.99 points and achieved the best result for a Latvian figure skater since Konstantin Kostin placed fourth at the 1993 European Championships. Roberta Rodeghiero (ITA) finished fifth (170.76 points) and Mae Berenice Meite (FRA) moved up from eighth to sixth at 161.23 points.
The ISU European Figure Skating Championships 2016 continue Saturday with the Pairs Free Skating and the Free Dance.