The ISU European figure skating championships wrapped up over the weekend in Talinn, Estonia, giving skaters on that part of the planet their last competition before the Olympics Games in Vancouver while also supplying the skating world lots to talk about.

The ice cance event got the attention of Australian Aboriginal elders who were upset by the interpretation of their music in the original dance by defending world champions and eventual European champions from Russia, Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin.  

Without demonstrating any sensitivity to the subject matter, they were widely criticized for their program and may want to re-think it before heading to Vancouver.

They had the advantage by creating a sizeable five-point margin after the compulsory dance and couldn't be caught despite coming second in both the original and free dance segments.  

The silver medal was earned for the second consecutive year by the Italian champions, Federica Faiella and Massimo Scali, who won both the original and free dance portions, and have put aside earlier disappointments from the Grand Prix season.  

The 2009 European ice dance champions from Russia, Jana Khokhlova and Sergei Novitski, faltered but were able to hold on for the bronze.

In the women's event, Carolina Kostner, the 2008 world silver medallist from Italy was confident and prevailed in both the short and free programs to take her third European title in four years, putting her back on the map as a podium possibility for Vancouver.

The defending European champion, Laura Lepisto of Finland took the silver, although was third overall in both the short and the free. The big surprise was the return to life of Georgia's Elene Gedevanishvili, whose career inconsistencies have meant a 25th-place finish at the 2009 Europeans and then a subsequent sixth-place finish in the world juniors about a month later. Her second place free program put her on the podium with a bronze for her first European championship medal.

The pair's event proved that despite their enormous technical strength, the three-time and defending European champions from Germany, Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy, cannot afford any errors. As the favourites, the two-time world champions were looking for their fourth consecutive European title and they led after the short program, only to make some minor mistakes in the free before settling for the silver.

The 2009 world bronze medalists and two-time European medallists from Russia, Yuko Kavaguti and Alexander Smirnov, were able to capitalize on the Germans' mistakes to take the title. The bronze medals were captured by Russian team mates Maria Mukhortova and Maxim Trankov for the second straight year.

All eyes were on the men, but more specifically defending Olympic champion Evgeni Plushenko. And the Russian didn't disappoint, claiming his sixth European title. In what could be classified as his first meaningful win since returning to competition this season, there is no doubt that with his technical prowess and his season's best win here, he will be the man to beat in Vancouver.

The 2006 Olympic silver medallist from Switzerland, Stephane Lambiel, was in fifth after the short program but skated a beautiful free program, which earned him enough points to move into second.  The bronze medal went to the 2009 European and 2007 world champion Brian Joubert of France, whose hopes of getting on the podium in Vancouver are not as bright as they once were given the depth of talent in the men's field.