KAUNAS, Lithuania – Belgian Loena Hendrickx dethroned title-holder Georgian Anastasiia Gubanova to claim her first gold at the European Figure Skating Championships.
The 24-year-old Hendrickx had been favourite to win the title last year but fell twice in her free skate and settled for silver behind surprise winner Gubanova.
The Belgian made no mistake this time, leading all the way in Kaunas to nail the title with 213.25 points for her almost perfect free skate to music by Beyonce and Madonna.
“I think it was one of the best competitions from the enjoyment point of view because normally after the jumps I start enjoying but it really felt that after the triple-triple I was relaxed,” she said according to AFP.
“I know I can do better, but I’m super happy because I had so much fun on the ice.
“There were a lot of nerves. I felt pressure but I tried to enjoy my performance and I think I never enjoyed a program as much as I did here.”
Gubanova, 21, moved up from third after the short programme to take silver (206.52), with Belgian teenager Nina Pinzarrone completing the podium (202.29).
In the absence of the Russian skaters, two-time world medallist Hendrickx, winner of Skate America this season, achieved her first continental title.
She will bid to upset Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto, the two-time defending champion, at the world championships in Montreal in March.
Italy’s Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri successfully defended their ice dance title, taking advantage of the continued absence of Olympic champions Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron.
Performing to music from the movie “The Theory of Everything”, Guignard and Fabbri scored a total of 214.38 points after their free skate.
Britain’s Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson claimed silver with 210.82 points with a light-hearted and energetic routine to music from “Rocky.”
Competition between the two pairs has been intense all season with the British pair beating the Italians in the NHK Trophy before Guignard and Fabbri gained revenge in the Grand Prix Final.
Allison Reed and Saulius Ambrulevicius of Lithuania took bronze with 203.37 points.
Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri won the ice dance title for the second straight year for Italy’s second gold medal of the championships.
They scored a total 214.38 to beat Britain’s Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson, who took the silver medal on 210.82 with a “Rocky”-themed programme.
The American-born Allison Reed and her partner Saulius Ambrulevicius won bronze for Lithuania with 203.07.
“We’re super happy about our performance,” Fabbri said. “The support that we received tonight (from the crowd) was incredible, one of the best that we received outside of Italy.”
Lucrezia Beccari and Matteo Guarise won the pairs gold medal for Italy.
