Moscow / Russia

 

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Gabriella Papadakis / Guillaume Cizeron (FRA)

Gabriella Papadakis/Guillaume Cizeron of France cruised to their fourth consecutive European title, setting new record scores as the ISU European Championships 2018 continued in Moscow Saturday. Russia’s Ekaterina Bobrova/Dmitri Soloviev came from fourth to claim the silver medal while teammates Alexandra Stepanova/Ivan Bukin earned the bronze. All three teams set new personal best scores for themselves.

Performing to “Moonlight Sonata” by Ludwig van Beethoven Papadakis/Cizeron produced intricate yet effortless looking footwork and lifts, picking up a level four for all elements except for the midline step sequence that garnered a level three. The two-time World Champions scored 121.87 points for their Free Dance, improving their own record score and accumulated 203.16 points overall, another record score.

“We have a great team working with us and it is their experience and the trust we have in them and also the relationship in our pair that is the secret of our success. The Europeans Championships were an important step for us and a good opportunity to test the little adjustments we’ve made to our programs. The Olympic Games will come up very soon now and we’re really excited,” Cizeron commented.

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Ekaterina Bobrova / Dmitry Soloviev (RUS)

Bobrova/Soloviev put out a charming dance to “Oblivion” and “Beethoven’s Five Secrets”. Five elements merited a level four, and the step sequences were rated a level three. The seven-time National Champions set a new personal best with 112.70 points in the Free Dance and totaled 187.13 points to add a sixth European medal to their resume. “We think our best program was at Russian Nationals. Our second lift today was not as good as it can be. Maybe not everyone noticed it, but we know. Yes, we achieved a personal best, but we still want the mark to be higher. Now it is important that we relax a bit and then on 27th January we will fly to Japan and wait for our invitation (for the Olympic Games in Korea),” Bobrova shared.

Stepanova/Bukin’s dance to “Liebestraum” was highlighted by beautiful lifts and twizzles. The Muscovites collected 109.48 points for their Free Dance. With a total score of 184.86 points, Stepanova/Bukin returned on to the European podium earning their second bronze medal. 

“We will have a look at our exact marks once we’re home and then we will work on our little mistakes and fix them. We are happy, but all athletes always want more, so we will keep on working even harder. Today was not our best, but it was good. This is not just a local competition, it is the European Championships! So to be in the top three is very cool,” Bukin said.

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Alexandra Stepanova / Ivan Bukin (RUS)

A mistake on the twizzles at the beginning of their dance to “La vita e bella” cost Anna Cappellini/Luca Lanotte (ITA) and they dropped from third to fourth at 180.65 points.

Charlene Guignard/ Marco Fabbri (ITA) placed fifth with a strong performance to “Exogenesis Symphony” by Muse (177.75 points). Tiffani Zagorski/Jonathan Guerreiro (RUS) moved up two spots to finish sixth in their debut at the ISU European Figure Skating Championships.