Victoria Sinitsina/Nikita Katsalapov (RUS) competing at the ISU European Figure Skating Championships 2022 in Tallinn (EST) ©International Skating Union
Victoria Sinitsina/Nikita Katsalapov of Russia defended their European Ice Dance title Saturday at the ISU European Figure Skating Championships in Tallinn (EST). Teammates Alexandra Stepanova/Ivan Bukin earned the silver medal while Italy’s Charlene Guignard/ Marco Fabbri collected the bronze.
Sinitsina/Katsalapov turned in an exquisite performance to Sergei Rakhmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2 and Variations on a Theme of Paganini that featured beautiful lifts and intricate footwork. The reigning ISU World Champions collected a level four for the lifts and twizzles, a level three and four for the one foot step sequence and a level three for the midline steps to post a seasons best of 130.07 points. The totaled 217.96 points to repeat at European Champions.
“We are so happy with how today went. The atmosphere on the rink was amazing, the support of the crowd was great. These European Championships will be in our hearts for a very long time,” Sinitsina noted. “This medal means a lot. It was a very important thing, things don’t go easily but that what makes the journey so interesting and we never gave up so I can tell this competition before the Olympics is a huge motivation for us,” Katsalapov added.
Alexandra Stepanova/Ivan Bukin (RUS) competing at the ISU European Figure Skating Championships 2022 in Tallinn (EST) ©International Skating Union
Dancing to “Romeo and Juliet”, Stepanova/Bukin looked smooth and precise. The lifts and twizzles merited a level four while the footwork was rated a level three. The Russian Champions set a seasons best as well with 126.75 points and accumulated 213.20 points overall. It was the fifth medal for the couple at the ISU European Championships.
“It’s our second silver medal and fifth medal overall so it’s a great result,” Stepanova said. “We are happy with the skate, we did it all. We had a chance to work between Nationals and Europeans and we are thrilled with what we have done today and we did today more than we could a couple weeks ago. We improved, some things were changed in the Free Dance. We progressed so much and we are so grateful to all who helped,” she continued.
Charlene Guignard/Marco Fabbri (ITA) competing at the ISU European Figure Skating Championships 2022 in Tallinn (EST) ©International Skating Union
Guignard/Fabbri’s emotional performance to “Atonment” and “Song for the Little Sparrow” was highlighted by difficult, yet effortless looking elements, four of which garnered a level four. The multiple Italian Champions scored 124.26 points and earned their second European bronze medal since 2019 with a total of 207.97 points.
“The atmosphere tonight was great, the audience helped us. It wasn’t easy for us mentally and physically because we didn’t have our coach by our side. This was the first competition in 12 years without Barbara (Fusar Poli). We are even more proud of what we did tonight,” Fabbri shared. “It’s a very important test before the Olympics Games. Europeans are never easy as the come in the moment of the season when you may start getting a bit more tired and you have to resist. We don’t have a lot of time between the Grand Prix, Nationals and Europeans and it has been a good test for us and we proved we can skate well even in the difficult situations.”
Olivia Smart/Adrian Diaz (ESP) moved up from fifth to fourth with their dance to “Mask of Zorro” (196.86 points) while Lilah Fear/Lewis Gibson (GBR), who performed to “The Lion King” came fifth on 196.01 points. Sara Hurtado/Kirill Khaliavin (ESP) remained in sixth place at 191.90 points.
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