Javier Fernandez became the first Spaniard to capture a European figure skating title when he won the men's event. (Attila Kisbenedek/AFP/Getty Images)
There were definitely some standout performances at the 2013 European
Figure Skating Championships held over the weekend in Croatia.
There were definitely some standout performances at the 2013 European
Figure Skating Championships held over the weekend in Croatia.
Javier
Fernandez was outstanding in his free skate on his way to collecting
the very first European title for a Spaniard. When you consider that
0.04 points separated Fernandez from bronze medallist Patrick Chan at
the recent Grand Prix Final, and that Fernandez beat Chan at Skate
Canada, this moves him into serious contention for the world title.
Florent Amodio of France won this title in 2011 and could have repeated here as
he was the leader after the short program. At the end, Amodio's free
program was overshadowed by Fernandez and Michal Brezina of the Czech
Republic. Amodio took the silver and Brezina won bronze.
Former
world champions Brian Joubert and Evgeni Plushenko both skated the short
program but didn't push through in the free. Joubert was not able to
generate the kind of free program that would have signalled a return to
the European podium, finishing in fourth place. As much as they would
like to be back on top, life keeps getting in the way for these two
skaters. For Plushenko, a fall in the short program, where he placed
sixth, re-aggravated a back injury that caused him to withdraw from
competition before the free.
Russian women impress
Italy's
Carolina Kostner earned her fifth European title with only 0.72 points
to spare against some very stiff Russian competition. Technically, she
may have been outskated by Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, who won the free, but
to be honest, Kostner's free program to Ravel's Bolero for me is head
and shoulders above everybody else's this season, for which we can thank
Lori Nichol.
What
about the Russians? Well, I have been thinking all along that there is a
bumper crop of young Russian women on the international skating scene.
The depth of talent in Russian women's skating is staggering, including
Adelina Sotnikova, who dropped from first after the short program to
second overall, and Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, who took the bronze. Those
skaters were joined by teammate Nikol Gosviani, who finished sixth in
her Europeans debut. Having three skaters in the top six at Europeans is
an impressive feat to say the least.
Pairs' showdown
All
I cared about in the pairs' event was seeing who would take the title
between defending European champions Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim
Trankov, and defending world champions Aliona Savchenko and Robin
Szolkowy. The last time these two pairs met was at worlds in 2012, when
Volosozhar and Trankov leapfrogged over the competition after an
eighth-place finish in the short. With their amazing free skate,
Volosozhar and Trankov finished second by a margin of only 0.11 behind
Savchenko and Szolkowy.
The two teams were both poised and ready
for this head-to-head matchup. The Russians had been looking forward to
meeting their biggest rivals, and when it was all over, Volosozhar and
Trankov won both the short and free to take the title. They finished
with a decisive 7.21 lead ahead of Germans Savchenko and Szolkowy, who
settled for silver.
Italians Stefania Berton and Ondrej Hotarek took the bronze and the first pairs' medal for Italy at Europeans.
Wide-open dance
With
two-time and reigning European champions Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian
Bourzat sidelined by injury, the dance event was wide open. I have been
saying all season that Russians Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitry Soloviev
are on to something.
They fought for their first title and held
off teammates and silver medallists Elena Ilinykh and Nikita Katsalapov
by 0.11 points. I am not sure why the competition was this close as the
two free dances are very different, with the nod going to Bobrova and Soloviev in my mind in terms of overall presentation and sophistication.
Italian ice dancers Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte continue to improve. Their bronze medal and first step onto the European podium bears witness to that fact.
PJ KwongPJ is a self-proclaimed Word Broker who goes by the motto: I read them. I write them. I speak them. A degree from the University of Toronto studying Modern Languages has been put to good use as a bilingual PA announcer for, among other things, the last 5 Olympic Games, the FIFA U-20 2007 Men's World Cup and numerous international figure skating events since 1993.
Working as a figure skating coach for the last 25+ years led to commentating opportunities from CTV/TSN, ABC, Tokyo Broadcasting, CBC, Fuji TV, Seoul Broadcasting and CCTV among others. CBC has been home to Pj's skating voice, writing and commentary opinions since 2007. She would tell you that although working in skating is where her passion lies; she is the voice of lots of commercial projects, a blogger on her own site, a public speaker and with "Taking The Ice: Success Stories from the World of Canadian Figure Skating" a published author. You want opinions? She's got them. Follow her on Twitter to see.
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Javier Fernandez became the first Spaniard to capture a European figure skating title when he won the men's event. (Attila Kisbenedek/AFP/Getty Images)
PJ Kwong
PJ is a self-proclaimed Word Broker who goes by the motto: I read them. I write them. I speak them. A degree from the University of Toronto studying Modern Languages has been put to good use as a bilingual PA announcer for, among other things, the last 5 Olympic Games, the FIFA U-20 2007 Men's World Cup and numerous international figure skating events since 1993.
