Evgenia Tarasova/Vladimir Morozov of Russia struck gold in the Pairs final. Aliona Savchenko/Bruno Massot of Germany repeated as silver medalists and France’s Vanessa James/Morgan Cipres claimed the bronze medal.
Skating to “Music” by John Miles, Tarasova/Morozov landed a triple twist, side by side triple Salchow, triple toe-double toe, throw triple Salchow and loop and picked up a level four for two lifts and the side by side spin to score a personal best of 146.76 points. The ISU Grand Prix Final Champions were ranked second in the Free Skating, but with a total score of 227.58 points defended their overnight lead to take the gold medal. “We were emotional while skating, but feel empty now, like squeezed lemons, this is a pleasant exhaustion though. We are very satisfied as we demonstrated good skating in both programs, even despite a tiny mistake at the end of the free program today. We are getting better and better with every year, we are growing up and our skating becomes more mature”, Morozov said. “Gold at the Europeans means a lot to us, we have worked a lot to win it. We believe that our main victories and gold medals are still to come, this motivates us to grow”, Tarasova added.
Performing to “Lighthouse” by Patrick Watson, Savchenko/Massot produced a huge triple twist, a triple Salchow, throw double Axel and throw triple Salchow as well as level-four lifts and spins. The only glitch came when he doubled a toeloop. The World bronze medalists won the Free Skating with a personal best of 148.59 points and totaled 222.35 points to move up from third to second place. “This medal shines like gold to me. I am very happy to come back after my injury”, Savchenko commented. “It was an amazing comeback for us after these hard three months. Now we’re back. We do everything to win and this is the message we want to share”, Massot said.
James/Cipres landed a triple twist, throw quadruple Salchow (two-footed), a triple toe-double toeloop-double toeloop combination, triple Salchow as well as six level-four elements. The French Champions picked up 145.84 points, a new personal best and accumulated 220.02 points overall to take their first medal at Europeans and the first pair skating medal for France in 14 years. “We were never as happy as we are today. Of course we were also happy yesterday, but we needed to stay concentrated for today and we are so proud of us now”, James told the press. “It’s just fantastic. We have worked and sacrificed so much over the last years. This third place finish is for sure another step in the right direction”, Cipres noted.
Ksenia Stolbova/Fedor Klimov (RUS) remained in fourth place at 216.51 points followed by Natalia Zabiiako/Alexander Enbert (RUS) at 200.75 points. Valentina Marchei/Ondrej Hotarek (ITA) placed sixth (191.93 points).
The ISU European Figure Skating Championships continue Friday with the Men’s Short Program and the Ladies Free Skating. For more information, full entry lists and results please see: www.isu.org and the official event website http://ostrava2017.eu/en/. #EuroFigure