Switzerland’s Lukas Britschgi on Saturday won the men’s European figure skating title, rising from eighth place with his gold medal-winning performance in the free skate.
Britschgi, a bronze medalist two years ago, produced a dazzling display to earn an overall score of 267.09 points as two-time reigning champion Adam Siao Him Fa of France dropped to third.
“I don’t know what to say, that really came from nowhere,” said the 26-year-old Britschgi, who became the first Swiss winner of the event since 1947.
Photo: AFP
“I had nothing to lose, so I was pretty relaxed and I tried to attack each part of my program,” he said. “I had shivers when I entered the ice. I’m going to celebrate this title the way it should be.”
Siao Him Fa led after Thursday’s short program in Tallinn, but a fall on his first jump in the free skate and other mistakes dashed his hopes of a third successive title, as he finished on 257.99 points.
“I’m not very happy with my performance but in some ways, knowing where I have come from, I just have to accept it,” said Siao Him Fa, who has been nursing an injured right ankle. “It’s going to be difficult to perform every time, it’s just part of the process and today, I wasn’t up to it.”
Nikolaj Memola claimed silver with 262.61 to cap a successful day for Italy after Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri swept to a third straight European ice dance title.
The pair had led after the rhythm dance and secured victory in the free dance with a tally of 212.12 points.
France’s Evgeniia Lopareva and Geoffrey Brissaud took silver almost six points adrift (206.76), just ahead of Britain’s bronze medalists Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson (206.02).
“I’m very happy this time because, without wanting to brag, we really dominated,” Fabbri said.
The Italians were firm favorites to notch up their hat-trick at what was their 13th European championships.
Fear and Gibson were runners-up to Guignard and Fabbri in 2023 and last year, and were seeking Britain’s first European ice dance title since Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean in 1994.
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