Ostrava / Czech Republic

EFSC17-Day4-PapCiz2-632913834Gabriella Papadakis/Guillaume Cizeron of France danced off with the gold and their third European title. Italy’s Anna Cappellini/Luca Lanotte claimed the silver medal and Ekaterina Bobrova/Dmitri Soloviev of Russia earned the bronze.

Dancing to “Stillness” and “Happiness Does Not Wait”, Papadakis/Cizeron produced effortless looking lifts and step sequence, collecting a level four for their lifts, the spin and the twizzles while the two step sequences were rated a level three. The two-time World Champions scored 114.19 points and accumulated 189.67 points overall to rise from third to first place. “We fought well in the free dance. We skated at the same level as in practice, and it was so nice to put that out on to the ice. We had nothing to lose. You have to deal with each position you’re in in a different way. We are learning that in our career. It is not easy and we’re very happy to have been able to overcome the difficulties and to give a program with so much emotion today”, Cizeron commented.

Cappellini/Lanotte’s “Charlie Chaplin” dance featured five level-four elements as well. The 2014 World and European Champions posted a new seasons best with 110.99 points for the Free Dance and totaled186.64 points to win the third silver medal of their career. “We are very happy and very proud of what we were able to produce on ice today even though it wasn’t perfect. It took us a lot to get through this week. But we definitely showed big improvement from the Grand Prix season”, Cappellini told the post-event press conference.

EFSC17-Day4-Podium-632914388Bobrova/Soloviev produced level-four lifts, twizzles and spin as well, but the circular footwork merited a level two only. The 2013 World bronze medalists collected 110.38 points for their routine to “Prelude No. 20” by Frederic Chopin and “The Four Seasons”. At 186.56 points, the 2013 European Champions slipped from first to third. “We pleased with this championship. Everything worked out and we gave a 100 percent. Today I would say, it was the best performance of the season. Now we’ll take a short break and have a look on what we can improve or add”, Soloviev said.

Isabella Tobias/Ilia Tkachenko (ISR) moved up from fifth to fourth (169.29 points) while Alexandra Stepanova/Ivan Bukin (RUS) pulled up from sixth to fifth (166.93 points). Charlene Guignard/Marco Fabbri (ITA) dropped from fourth to sixth after a fall on a lift (163.68 points).

The ISU European Figure Skating Championships continues Saturday with Men 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