MOSCOW, January 21 - RIA Novosti, Andrey Simonenko. in figure skating in Moscow brought the Russian team nine medals - two gold, four silver and three bronze. The culmination of the tournament was the denouement of the women's competition, in which the winner of the Grand Prix Final and Russian champion won and inflicted the first defeat in two years and three months on the two-time world champion, leaving her with silver.

The European Championship ended on Saturday evening. In pair skating, the entire podium was Russian - Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov won gold, Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov won silver, Natalya Zabiyako and Alexander Enbert won bronze. In men's single skating, silver was won, and Mikhail Kolyada won bronze. In ice dancing, Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitry Solovyov won silver, Alexandra Stepanova and Ivan Bukin won bronze.

The iron ones survive

Medvedeva and Zagitova conducted an official training session on the reserve ice of the Megasport Arena on Friday evening. The usual official training - but with the exception of two nuances. Firstly, it was the second training session that day, and the rest of the top skaters at the European Championships decided to skip it. The first one, in the morning, was quite enough for them - the day between the short and free programs is not for nothing called a “day of rest”.

Secondly, and this is the most striking thing, the training of Medvedeva and Zagitova did not carry any hint of any relaxation. Half an hour, 40 minutes passed, and the skaters, under the guidance of a strict, attentive and at the same time coach who knew when to joke, Eteri Tutberidze, kept churning out their cascades of cosmic complexity. The others would have been carried away long ago - but Medvedev and Zagitova gave out their “3-3-3”.

This episode contains the entire explanation of the phenomenon of Tutberidze’s figure skaters. At the Khrustalny skating rink, where the group works, only the iron ones survive. But they achieve success.

Costner's Rescue Components

Before the release of the strongest group, the performances in the women's free program were similar to some kind of warm-up or, although it sounds just as offensive, cheerleading dances. It's a shame, but, alas, fair. There is a gulf between the top four at the European Championships and the rest.

The first of the medal contenders to take to the ice was Maria Sotskova, who was in fourth place after the short program. The Russian woman retained a theoretical chance of competing for a medal, despite the ten-point gap from the Italian. To do this, she had to perform her free skate with the maximum degree of purity and hope for “gifts” from her highly experienced opponent.

Sotskova completed her task until the fourth minute of the program. In fact, she was tired already on the third, but she endured. And yet she fell on a triple Lutz. 132.11 points for the free program meant that Costner would have to really mess up in order to lose to Maria.

Italian

I started my skate with a fall on a triple Lutz. Then there were a bunch of errors on other jumps - butterflies, landings with blots... However, Costner, as usual, was helped out by the components, which the judges, despite the technically disastrous performance, poured in with all their hearts. The margin after the short program was enough for Carolina to overtake Sotskova. The Russian, like a year ago at the European Championships in Ostrava, remained fourth.

Denouement

Finally, the moment of the main intrigue of the entire European Championship has arrived - which of the two Russian contenders for Pyeongchang gold will be stronger at the rehearsal in Moscow? Alina Zagitova was the first to take to the ice, 1.7 points ahead of Evgenia Medvedeva.

During the entire European Championship, including training, she did not make a single mistake. The free skate was no exception - Zagitova performed it from the first to the last skate movement in full accordance with how it was intended. The judges rated the performance of the Russian champion with a record score of 157.97 points. And this meant that the two-time world champion had no room for error. Moreover, she had to get a score on the verge of her own world record of 160 points.

Medvedeva's first jump - a flip - turned out to be imperfect. And in order to win, she had to receive judges’ “pluses” on each element. The next jump, lutz, as the technical protocol later showed, was performed with a technical error (an unclear edge on the take-off). This, in fact, was the end of the struggle. Medvedeva completed the rest of the program without errors, but it was outwardly difficult. According to the skater, she is not bothered by her injured leg, but the forced break in terms of functional training could not pass without a trace. The judges gave her 154.29 - 3.68 points less than Zagitova.

Thus, Zagitova became the European champion in the first adult season of her career. Her winning streak continues, but Medvedeva suffered her first defeat since November 2015, when she took second place at the Moscow Grand Prix. She, as then, has silver.

Bobrova and Solovyov came out with sporting rage

Earlier on Saturday, the French duo Gabriella Papadakis/Guillaume Cizeron won a convincing victory in ice dancing, updating two world records - in the free program (121.87) and in total (203.16).

The Russian Figure Skating Federation (FFKKR) is due to announce the lineup of participants for the Olympic Games in Pyeongchang on Sunday.

In the current season 2017-2018. Figure skating fans will be able to enjoy the European Championships at home. The best figure skaters in Europe will come to Moscow for the 2018 European Figure Skating Championships. Athletes will demonstrate their figure skating skills and try to prove that they are the best in Europe.

Who will take the European Championship gold among girls?

16.01.2018 - 06.02.2019

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For many, the train to Russia will be the first and, given the high level of development of skating in Russia, it will be a great honor for them, just like us Russians, who will be happy to see European figure skaters on the ice in the capital of Russia.

Details of the European Championship 2018

1. Date (day and month): January 15-21, 2018
2. Venue: Moscow, Russia
3. Stadium: Megasport Palace on Khadynskoe Field
4. Season: 2017-2018
5. Organizer: ISU (International Skating Union)

The European Championship competition program is divided into several types:

1. Sports couples
2. Dancing on Ice
3. Women's singles skating
4. Men's single skating

This is the second time that Moscow will host the European Championships. Russian Empire -> USSR -> Russia received the right to host the European Championship for the 6th time.

Where to buy tickets for the European Championship 2018?

Ticket sales for the European Championship began on September 11, 2017; they can be purchased at the Megasport central ticket office.

On the website you can book the best seats and order tickets with delivery. It is possible to buy in bulk and order a subscription for all competition days. We have tickets for any type of competition - men's singles, women's singles, ice dancing and pairs.

Buying tickets to the European Championship 2018 from us will be more profitable. Do not wait until all the tickets are sold out, otherwise you will have to buy at exorbitant prices on the black market.

You can order tickets now, with delivery throughout Moscow and throughout Russia, using. Please indicate “Purchasing tickets for the European Championship 2018” as the subject of the letter; in the response letter you will receive all the information - available seats and prices for European Championship tickets. Delivery is free throughout Russia.

2018 European Championship schedule

Training will take place on January 15 and 16; on these days, entry to the Megasport stands is free for everyone. On January 17, the opening ceremony of the championship and the first competitions will take place - short programs, competitions will be held until January 21 - on this day a colorful closing ceremony will take place (demonstration performances, in which the best athletes, according to the organizers, will take part).

Chances of Russian victory at the 2018 European Championship

If we talk about the chances of winning, then each of the types of figure skating has a number of its favorites. Russian athletes, the obvious contenders for medals are the singles girls: Evgenia Medvedeva - two-time world and European champion, Alina Zagitova - the current champion of Russia and Maria Sotskova.

Will make his debut in adult FC. A student of the SAMBO-70 school of the Khrustalny department, training under the leadership of seasoned coach Eteri Tutberidze, behind whom there are such athletes as Olympic champion Yulia Lipnitskaya, multiple winner of everything Evgenia Medvedeva, and other top skaters, for example, junior . Zagitova broke the world record for the total points scored for CP and PP at the World Junior Championships in the last 2016-2017 season.

Russian dances and couples can also boast of strong athletes, and they can claim the highest places, but men... This is a separate topic for conversation and it is not yet clear who is in what form and what the federation will decide regarding the composition of the European Championships.

In any case, the home European Championship will provide an incentive to work better and perform cleaner for all athletes. Everyone understands that when playing for Russia you need to give it your all.

Composition of the Russian national team at the European Championships

It is not known who will go to the 2018 European Championships. The decision on the composition of the Russian figure skating team is made by the Russian Figure Skating Federation (FFKR) based on the season spent - the grand prix stages. The final decision on the composition of the Russian European Championship team is made by the federation on the basis of the national tournament - the Russian Championship.

It is generally accepted that the national team includes skaters who took 1-3 places at the Chechen Championship, but within the federation, when consensus is reached, other behind-the-scenes issues cannot be ruled out. At the moment, the composition is not known, we are waiting for the Russian Championship, after which we will publish a complete list of athletes for each of the types on this page.

Update: The composition of the Russian national team for the European Championship has been announced

The Executive Committee of the FFKKR named composition of the Russian national team for the European Figure Skating Championships.

The team included:
Women: Alina Zagitova, Maria Sotskova, Evgenia Medvedeva.
Substitutes: Stanislava Konstantinova, Polina Tsurskaya.
Men: Mikhail Kolyada, Alexander Samarin, Dmitry Aliev.
Substitutes: Sergei Voronov, Artur Dmitriev.
Couples: Evgenia Tarasova - Vladimir Morozov, Ksenia Stolbova - Fedor Klimov, Natalya Zabiyako - Alexander Enbert.
Substitutes: Kristina Astakhova - Alexey Rogonov, Alexandra Boykova - Dmitry Kozlovsky.
Dancing on Ice: Ekaterina Bobrova - Dmitry Solovyov, Alexandra Stepanova - Ivan Bukin, Tiffany Zagorski - Jonathan Gureiro.
Substitutes: Betina Popova - Sergei Mozgov, Sofya Evdokimova - Egor Bazin.

“The FFKKR Executive Committee approved the proposals of the All-Russian Coaching Council on the composition of the Russian national figure skating team for the 2018 European Championship, which will be held on January 15-21 in Moscow... The past Russian Championship in St. Petersburg can be considered successful. The organization and conditions of the event were at a high level. FFKKR wishes everyone a Happy New Year. We wish health and sporting success to the skaters and their coaches,” said FFKKR General Director Alexander Kogan.

Watch live online broadcast of the 2018 European Championship on TV and the Internet

It is not known exactly where the broadcast of the European Championship 2018 will take place. It is expected that the television broadcasting rights will be bought by the Match TV channel, so we are watching the live online broadcast on this channel.

• Match TV is broadcast on TV around the clock. They can be viewed online on the channel’s official website.
• Another viewing option: ISU has an official website where it conducts live broadcasts of figure skating, this applies to all competitions - the World Championships, Grand Prix stages, Olympics and others. Website: eurovisionsports.tv/ISU
• You can use them and then publish them on YouTube for other people.

Check it out and don’t miss anything interesting :)

Participants: representation by type

According to the results of the last European Championship, more than 1 person can represent the following countries (division by discipline)

Russia, as the host of the championship, has 3 quotas in each of the types: dance, pairs, men's and women's singles.

Athletes from all European countries are eligible to take part in the competition, including Turkey, Israel, Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan. To represent the country, a skater must be 15 years of age.

Why the girls' pedestal will be Russian

After the “Scarlet” and “White” roses of the world women’s singles skating failed at the December Russian Championship, fans of Alina Zagitova and Evgenia Medvedeva expected the continuation of their “duel of the decade” in Minsk, where the European Championships will be held from January 23 to 27. These expectations were justified - all three winners of the national championship (qualifying for the European Championship) according to the regulations cannot yet take part in official international competitions. But, alas, Medvedeva is destined for the humiliating role of a reserve in the capital of Belarus. Nevertheless, the Olympic champion and favorite of the Tatar people should not try on the gold medal in advance. Alina's teammates Stanislava Konstantinov and Sofia Samodurova may well challenge the record favorite of the Euro and remove her from the continental throne. Details are in the material of Realnoe Vremya.

The podium will again be Russian. For the seventh time

The European Championships traditionally bring a large medal harvest to Russian figure skaters. At one of the oldest tournaments in Europe, which has been held since 1891, our country almost always has maximum representation. The leadership of the FFKKR and the fans have the brightest prospects for the Minsk tournament - prizes will be awarded to both our singles and sports and dance couples. But, of course, the greatest attention of our fans of both a beautiful and scandalous sport will be focused on women's single skating - the discipline with which the Euro starts on January 23.

The hegemony of the Russian “figure” in Europe was not established immediately. Women first played singles medals in Vienna in 1930. History has preserved the name of the first European champion - Austrian Fritzi Burger.

Our athletes first stood on the podium only 47 years later, when in 1978 Elena Vodorezova took bronze. This was the first sign, followed by medals of similar and higher value from Kira Ivanova, Anna Kondrashova and Natalya Lebedeva. But none of the Soviet singles athletes could reach the title.

Irina Slutskaya became the record holder of the Old World championships - she has seven first places to her name. Photo yugopolis.ru

The superiority of the domestic figure skating school over the rest of Europe began already in the era of independent Russia, or more precisely, in 1996. Irina Slutskaya, and after her Maria Butyrskaya, did not give gold medals to anyone for a whole decade (until 2006), and Slutskaya became the record holder of the Old World championships - she has seven (!) first places to her name. In 1999, for the first time, the entire podium was painted in the colors of the Russian tricolor (Butyrskaya, Yulia Soldatova, Victoria Volchkova), and since then, Russians have taken a full set of medals from the Euro five more times (in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2015 and 2016).

Cindy Crawford and Claudia Schiffer of modern figure skating Evgenia Medvedeva and after her Alina Zagitova occupied the top step of the European podium 3 years ago. In Bratislava 2016 and Ostrava 2017, Medvedev, who reigned on the world stage in those years, excelled. Due to her tender age, Zagitova did not participate in these tournaments - in 2017 she won the world junior championship. If she didn’t participate, it means she didn’t lose to her main competitor, but in Moscow 2018, at her first senior Euro, she immediately became the “queen of the hill” and forced Medvedeva to look up at herself - from the second step. A month later, she repeated the same trick in the Olympic Pyeongchang.

In Minsk, the daughter of Izhstal legend and Irbis coach Ilnaz Zagitov will once again be able to set up a rival (with whom they chirp sweetly and take pictures in public, keeping within themselves the only desire - to get ahead at any cost) only under fantastic circumstances. The fact is that our country will be represented in the competition, in addition to Zagitova, Stanislav Konstantinov and Sofia Samodurova. Medvedeva and the most relaxed figure skater of our time, Euro 2015 champion Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, whose bra tricks are discussed by the entire Internet community, came to the capital of Belarus as reserves, and therefore, the Zagitov-Medvedev duel can only take place in the event of force majeure for Konstantinova and Samodurova. But in any case, the entire podium will become Russian for the seventh time in history. And that's why.

Firstly, Alexey Mishin’s student Caroline Kostner, the last representative of the bygone era of truly female skating, when gliding, plasticity and a sense of music were valued more than dizzying jumps and cascades of crazy spins, decided to take a break from the performances. Best of all in the world, according to Samodurova, the Italian, who has mastered “rib skating”, took Eurobronze in 2017-2018, but, alas, she will not be in Minsk. As well as the most promising of the young European “stars”, the Belgian Luna Hendricks.

Alexei Mishin’s student Carolina Kostner, the last representative of the bygone era of truly women’s skating, decided to take a break from her performances. Photo eurosport.ru

The rest of the contestants are no match for us. Neither the heiress of the strong Finnish school Viveka Linnfosch, nor the Swiss with the musical surname Alexia Paganini, nor the Italian Lucrezia Gennaro, who impressed the “figure” community with an interesting program to the soundtrack to the film “Dracula” with Gary Oldman, nor the promising Spanish Romero and Danish Erensen are even in the top -30 world ranking.

“At the moment, the gap between our women’s single skating and the European one is not even one, but several steps. This gives us the feeling that we have the right to count on the entire podium,” said Ilya Averbukh, silver medalist of the 2002 Olympics, on the eve of Euro 2019. Well, in what order these awards will be distributed is a question. Yes, Bestemyanova says that “Zagitova is the main contender for victory... if she skates cleanly, she will win the competition.” The great Tatyana Tarasova echoes the great skaters. But after what happened in Saransk, I don’t think it’s worth taking these statements blindly. After all, figure skating is still a sport, not quite a show, but anything can happen in sports.

Why didn’t the winners of the Russian Championship go to the European Championships?

The first thunder at the December Russian Championships in Saransk thundered in the short program. Alina Zagitova won it by a clear margin, ahead of junior Alexandra Trusova, who came second, by almost 6 points. But Medvedeva, who was rebuilding her skating under the guidance of Canadian coach and formerly brilliant figure skater Brian Orser, disrupted her performance and became only 14th. In the free program, Zhenya pulled herself together and, even making a mistake in the cascade, took fourth place, but here her main opponent Zagitova had already messed up, like a pin in a bowling alley, falling after her signature jumps. As a result, all the prizes were taken by new “pea grains” from the “chocolate factory” of Eteri Tutberidze. Champion Anna Shcherbakova and silver medalist Alexandra Trusova performed a quadruple lutz in their program, and they were accompanied on the podium by the winner of the Junior Grand Prix Anna Kostornaya, and the first and second places were separated by only seven hundredths of a point - 229.78 for Shcherbakova and 229.71 at Trusova (in total).

Zagitova ended up fifth (212.03 points), and Medvedeva seventh (205.90). And due to the fact that none of the medalists was 15 years old as of July 1, 2018, rule 108 of the General Regulations of the Skating Union (ISU) came into force, and the FFKKR executive committee and the coaching council had to select participants for the nearest international competitions from the athletes who took places after the winners.

This was done - it was decided to send the skaters who took places from 4th to 6th to Minsk. In addition to Zagitova, Konstantinova, who became fourth in Saransk, and Samodurova, who took sixth place, received tickets. And Medvedeva and Tuktamysheva received the status of reserves.

Alexandra Trusova, Anna Shcherbakova and Alena Kostornaya (from left to right). Photo by Ksenia Nurtdinova (sport-express.ru)

Everything seems to be fair, although the feeling of absurdity does not leave. A simple and even stupid question arises: why should schoolgirls who have not yet emerged from puberty be put on the same level as adult girls and forced to participate in the same tournament, knowing in advance that these juniors are participating as if out of competition?

However, I wouldn’t particularly like to raise this topic in the preview for the championship. With American gymnasts stuffed with “joy hormones,” we have already lost such a once aesthetically (and not just technically) beautiful sport as artistic gymnastics. If our Federation (and its allies) lobby for a reduction in the age limit for participants in adult official competitions, we will lose figure skating. It could well be replaced by cyber-skating, which, in any case, will contain less dirt than is present in the world of real figure skating these days.

The level of scandal in the “figure” increases in proportion to the decrease in the age of the participants

Meanwhile, mud pours from all sides with the frequency of falling snow. Before everyone had time to recover from Medvedeva’s hysterics associated with her departure from Tutberidze to Orser, she simply became sick of the “male” revelations of two-time Olympic champion Maxim Trankov: “At the Olympics in Pyeongchang, everyone, of course, was rooting for Zhenya (Medvedeva). Nobody was rooting for Alina (Zagitova). Only together with the flint-minded Alina did they survive this when the Internet exploded with the statement of a very child, 13-year-old figure skater Anastasia Shabotova. The winner of the Russian Cup among juniors said on Instagram that in order to achieve winning results, one must “drink the right doping,” and suggested that the famous “hotbed of talent” Tutberidze cannot do without prohibited substances.

The girl, whose statement spread throughout the virtual space, was already frightened by the “released sparrow”, said that she had not thought and had no evidence, and her mother took away her smartphone. The leaders of our figure skating, led by FFKKR President Alexander Gorshkov, dismissed this statement as “complete nonsense.” But the sediment, as they say, remains. And the girls’ mothers began to speak out…. And the reason for this latest scandalous story is the launching of immature children into the harsh meat grinder of adult struggle and adult intrigues.

The leaders of our figure skating, led by FFKKR President Alexander Gorshkov, dismissed Anastasia Shabotova’s statement as “complete nonsense.” Photo by Valeria Kukaleva (nevasport.ru)

Will her retinue rebel against the queen?

With Alina herself, at first glance, everything is clear. A breakdown should not be repeated for the second time within a month for an athlete who leads both the world ranking and the overall Grand Prix ranking, and at the Grand Prix final in Vancouver, held on the eve of Saransk, convincingly ahead of all her rivals, including the Japanese Rika Kihira with her so far two triple axels inaccessible to Alina. But our Olympic champion is still a very young girl, and even Averbukh, who called Zagitova “the absolute leader of this season and the main contender for victory in Minsk,” says that if she “performs in the free program, like in Saransk, then anything is possible.”

Yes, our girls can only lose to themselves. Can Alina lose to her teammates? Let's introduce them. The most interesting, in my opinion, of the Konstantinov-Samodurov duet is the last one. A native of Krasnoyarsk is 16 years old. She trains in St. Petersburg in the group of the famous Alexei Mishin at the Star Ice Sports School. A beautiful girl with good manners and fluent English, she made her debut in the junior Grand Prix series in the 2016/17 season and took 4th place at the Japanese stage. Having reserved her place at the end of the first - beginning of the second ten at the 2017 and 2018 Junior World Championships, she is having her best season this year. In it, “the girl has matured.” Her first tournament at the adult level was the Lombardy Trophy - and immediately took second place. Then there was bronze at the Skate America Grand Prix with a score of 198.70, silver at the Moscow Grand Prix Rostelecom Cup 2018 and stable performance in Saransk. At the Russian Championship, Sofia took sixth place with a score of 209.77, and she is sixth in the overall standings of the 2018/19 Grand Prix.

Experts believe that Samodurova has great potential, but the federation, under the pretext of imaginary instability, is “squeezing” her, not raising her score above 210. She even received the unspoken nickname “Cinderella” or “stepdaughter” of Russian singles skating. Well, so be it, but why shouldn’t Minsk Arena become the palace where Cinderella will become a princess at the ball?

Experts believe that Samodurova has great potential. Photo news.ru

Stanislava Konstantinova is objectively less stable. She is 2 years older than Samodurova and, unlike her, is a St. Petersburg resident not by place of work, but by place of birth. The ward of Valentina Chebotareva, distinguished by her aristocratic bearing and musicality, began to conquer the international podium in the fall of 2016 - first at the junior level, and then moving up to the adult level. The two-time winner of the Tallinn Cup and winner of the Zagreb Golden Skate was a silver and bronze medalist at the Russian junior championships, but in December 2017 in her native St. Petersburg she failed the short program at the adult national championship. Changes are typical for Stasya this season as well. Thus, having become second at the Skate Helsinki Grand Prix stage, she took only fifth place at similar competitions in Grenoble and ultimately did not make it to the finals of the series. Here in Saransk, the figure skater, combining excellent performances with rough, often inexplicable mistakes, performed confidently and became fourth, almost a point ahead of Alina Zagitova with a score of 212.92.

Dembel chord of Javier Fernandez

If the victory of the Russian single skaters is practically a done deal, then what can the Russian national team count on in other types of the Euro program? Following the results of the championship in Saransk, Tatyana Tarasova stated that “Russian figure skating is now at a very high level.” Minsk 2019 and must either confirm or refute the words of the master.

Perhaps the main event of the championship will be the last performance of the famous Spaniard, two-time world champion and 6-time winner of the Old World Championships Javier Fernandez. After Pyeongchang, in which he won bronze, the best European singles skater of the decade did not compete, performed in ice shows, including Tatyana Navka, and at the age of 27 he decided to end his brilliant career in Minsk.

Perhaps the main event of the championship will be the last performance of the famous Spaniard, two-time world champion and 6-time winner of the Old World Championships Javier Fernandez. Photo 24smi.org

Unlike the Spaniard, the fourth number in the ISU ranking, the silver medalist of the Olympics in the team and the bronze medalist of the World Championship, Mikhail Kolyada, took part in the official competitions, but fell at the Grand Prix stages in Helsinki and Moscow. Let's see if in the capital of Belarus Kolyada will be able to compete with Fernandez if he cleanly performs the quadruple salchow and toe loop, which he plans to include in the program. Among the other contenders for awards, we highlight the Czech Michal Brzezina and the two-time Euro silver medalist and 4-time Russian champion Maxim Kovtun, who returned to the team. The third participant from our country was Alexander Samarin, who was one step away from getting into the Grand Prix Final.

We are waiting for “gold” from Tarasova and Morozov

In the dying discipline of “sports pairs” (only 11 duets will perform in Minsk), we will root for the native of Kazan and athlete of the year in Tatarstan 2018 Evgenia Tarasova, who, together with Vladimir Morozov, will fight for gold with the French pair Vanessa James - Morgan Cipres. Our skaters have more titles to their name - they are the silver medalists of the Games as a team, and two-time European champions, but this season the rivals won two stages of the Grand Prix, and in the final in Vancouver the French prevailed, with a record in the free skate of 148, 37. Two other couples from Russia are Alexandra Boykova - Dmitry Kozlovsky and Daria Pavlyuchenkova - Denis Khodykin.

Another French couple, dancing, should take 80 percent gold. Gabriela Papadakis, together with Guillaume Cizeron, are vice-champions of Pyeongchang, three-time world champions and two-time European champions. This season they performed little - they only won the home stage of the Grand Prix, and a possible lack of competitive practice gives the remaining 20 percent to our silver medalists of the 2018 Grand Prix Final, Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov, to win. Russia will also be represented in dance by Alexandra Stepanova - Ivan Bukin and Sofya Evdokimova - Yegor Bazin.

Alexander Zhulin predicted the success of our team in three of the four disciplines. Photo: instagram.com

Already on the eve of the tournament in Minsk, Alexander Zhulin predicted the success of our team in three of the four disciplines: “I believe that the Russians have an excellent chance to compete for victory in both women’s singles and men’s singles. I am confident in the triumph of the Russians in the sports pairs competition.” Let's see if this prediction comes true.

Alexander Norden

Evgenia Medvedeva is a two-time European champion (2016 and 2017). Will she be able to win the title for the third time? Photo: Alexander Isakov

At the European Figure Skating Championships in Moscow on the ice of Megasport, the continental champion in women's single skating was determined. She was 15-year-old European Championship debutant Alina Zagitova. Two-time world champion, two-time European champion Evgenia Medvedeva became second. Italian figure skater Carolina Kostner took bronze.

00:36 The award ceremony has begun. Zhenya, going up to the pedestal, was even confused - confused about where the second place was, where the third place was. She never stood in these places...

Results of the European Championships in women's single skating.

1. Alina Zagitova (RUSSIA) - 238.24

2. Evgenia Medvedeva (RUSSIA) - 232.86

3. Carolina Costner (Italy) - 204.25

00:30 No one has yet beaten Evgenia Medvedeva. But Alina managed to do this, who has been training with her for many years on the same ice with the same coach... Well, we will see the second round of confrontation between these skaters at the Olympics. We think Medvedev will be angrier. And stronger.

00:22 Became European champion Alina Zagitova. For her free program she received 157.97, Evgenia Medvedeva - 154.29.

Based on the sum of the two programs, Alina Zagitova beat Evgenia Medvedeva by almost 6 points. Let us remind you that both Russians train with the same coach - Eteri Tutberidze.

This is the debut European Championship for the 15-year-old champion.

00:16 238.24. Do I need to say anything more? Oh, it won’t be easy for Zhenya now.

00:14 Well done Alina! How hot it is now in Megasport. All the ice is in the toys. Alina succeeded in everything today, the judges generously plus absolutely all the elements. Some of the stands are now shouting “Alina”, some are cheering Zhenya Medvedeva, who has already gone out to warm up. While she maneuvers between teddy bears.

00:09 Alina Zagitova on ice!

00:05 Karolina didn’t succeed in everything today; she had a fall and some mistakes. She has 204.25 points - Carolina beats Maria Sotskova, and so far she is the first. Although in the free program Sotskova beat Carolina by 7 points.

00:00 Carlina Costner- ice queen, 30-year-old figure skater from Italy, on the ice.

Bronze medalist of the Games, champion of Italy. Costner became the first Italian figure skater to win the Grand Prix final, become European champion and world figure skating champion.

23:55 On the ice Nicole Rajichova from Slovakia, four-time champion of her country. After the short program she was fifth. Based on the sum of the two programs, she scored 171.90 and is still third.

23:48 And Masha gives! Good rental, well done Sotskova. There was an unfortunate fall from a triple Lutz, which Sotskova under-rotated. But the judges give everything else a thumbs up. If it weren’t for this fall... Masha presented her free program today very artistically. 200.81 is Maria's sum. Of course, it is clear that she is unhappy. So far she is in intermediate first place. But it’s unlikely that the points will be enough to get into the top three. But ice is equally slippery for everyone. This is a sport, and anything can happen - so let's look further.

23:44 Masha Sotskova on the ice! “Masha, come on,” the stands shout.

23:40 Anita Estlund from Sweden on ice. One of her cascades was not successful at all, she had a lot of questions about her jumps. Triple flip - with a blot, with an error and under-rotation of the triple lutz... This greatly blurred the impression of the skate. Well, Anita herself is unhappy. She was sixth after the short program, but has now dropped back to 12th place. Anita is crying in the kiss and cry zone.

23:36 Before going on the ice, the two main contenders for victory - Alina Zagitova and prepared differently. Zhenya, wearing headphones, wound herself up with her favorite compositions, walking back and forth along the edge. Alina was warming up intensively in order to go out on the ice in full combat readiness. Their coach Eteri Tutberidze I tried to pay attention to both.

23:33 This photo does not require a caption. At the side there is a group of the strongest. There are only five performances left until the end of the European Championship. And now the fate of medals in women's single skating will be decided. How are your nerves?

23:30 The symbol of the championship is a squirrel. There’s a huge line of people wanting to take pictures!

23:25 The judges fined the skater, she is only sixth now. We believe that such a complex costume should not be made - there is still too much risk that something will go wrong.

23:21 Laurin Lecavalier from France on ice. This figure skater is interesting primarily... for her costume. In the first part of the program she skates in one, and in the second she transforms and remains in a beautiful dress. This Lauren program is already familiar to figure skating fans. But today something went wrong, and part of the skater’s costume came unfastened ahead of time. I wonder how the judges will react to this...

23:17 We really liked the Moon, we noticed it yesterday. Flexible, emotional, bright skater. Her hands work very well, her ballet training is visible. Yorick, alas, did not meet her! 176.91 - Hendrix's result. She's the first one so far! And it's absolutely deserved. And finally we have crossed the 170 mark! More or less solid scores began.

23:14 On Ice - Luna Hendrix from Belgium. And again yesterday we saw her brother - Yorika. He finished tenth in men's singles. I wonder if her brother will meet her at kiss and cry? :)

23:10 Came in first place Alexia Paganini from Switzerland. Very neat, clean skating... True, a little boring. Her result is 161.62. She is 16 years old, she is the champion of her country. This is her first European Championship. By the way, Paganini has two brothers, and both of them play hockey.

22:57 Eliska Brzezinova from the Czech Republic on ice. Yesterday we saw her brother - Michal Brzezin. He finished eighth. Elishka is still only in 4th place. In the kiss and cry zone, Eliška was supported by his brother (on the right in the photo).

Eliska and Michal. Photo: Natalia Shadrina

22:55 And again about history. Do you know which cities hold the record for hosting the European Championship? Vienna and Davos. They hosted the continental championship nine times. But basically all this happened in the first half of the twentieth century... The last time Vienna hosted the championship was in 2000, and Davos in 1959.

22:48 The French woman succeeded and she is happy. So far she has intermediate first place with a score of 159.70.

22:40 The third group's warm-up began. Now on the ice the audience's favorite is the Frenchwoman Mae Berenice Meite. Exactly one hour remains until the first Russian performs - Masha Sotskova.

22:22 And the doctors are bored at this championship. And good!

22:20 If there is no work, the children wrap themselves in blankets. But today they don’t have to be bored and cold.

22:10 Viveca Lindfors, the Finnish champion, has just completed her skate. 147.89 - this is the amount for two rentals. This is the second result so far. And this warm-up will be completed by the passionate tango of the Hungarian athlete Yvette Toth, champions of their country. She scored a total of 148.98 points and is only second so far.

Yvette Toth. Photo: Natalia Shadrina

22:03 A little about the atmosphere. At all press conferences, all skaters note that the audience in Moscow welcomes them very warmly. Indeed, there is incredible energy in “Megasport”: they welcome all skaters without exception very warmly and sincerely. Now there is an incredible atmosphere here - the arena is 100% full, there are no tickets, both the most expensive seats and the most distant and inconvenient ones are occupied. You can still meet spectators in the foyer and in cafes - mostly these are fans of those countries whose skaters are performing at the end of the tournament. But there are very few of them.

And, of course, today there is a lot of work for the youngest participants of the European Championship - for children who pick flowers and toys from the ice. Some toys are almost as big as the girls themselves, but they try really hard :)

21:55 The free program of the 24-year-old Norwegian has begun Anne-Lina Gjersem. She is a three-time champion of her country and took part in the Olympic Games in Sochi. And today the skater coped well with her nerves, the skate turned out to be convincing. For her free program she receives 93.98 points - the best result of the season, her total is 142.68 points. Currently it is in fourth place.

21:48 Another figure skater from Germany is on the ice - Nicole Scott. She's great at jumping - and even with her hand raised - in the best traditions of the Russians from the group Eteri Tutberidze. Nicole doesn’t do without blemishes in the second part of the program, but how the audience likes it! After skating, a huge pink bear is thrown onto the ice. She currently ranks first with the amount 157.84 points.

21:42 We are closely following the performance of the athlete from Ukraine - 23-year-old Anna Khnychenkova. She was very supported by the audience even after the short program, today the audience again welcomes her very warmly, although I must admit, not everything worked out for Anna today. Her best result in the season before the European Championships was 99.65 points. For her free program today, the judges give her only 80, 86. In total, for two skates she has 132.7 points, while the Ukrainian occupies seventh position.

21:37 A German figure skater took to the ice Lea Johanna Dastish. She is 17 years old and last year Lea became a bronze medalist at the German Championship. Well, even today she shows a good performance - in total the figure skater 146.82 points, which puts it in second place - after Nicole Christini from Italy.

21:33 And again about history. The first figure skating competition to be broadcast live to an international audience was the European Championships - it happened in 1958. The tournament was then held in Bratislava.

21:28 By this hour there are no more empty seats at Megasport.

21:26 And we will continue to talk about the history of the continental championships. An interesting detail: there were cases when representatives of... other continents became European champions. As a result, from 1949, only figure skaters from European countries were allowed to participate in the European Championships.

21:21 Dasha Grm from Slovenia completed the first group of participants with their performance. Dasha is unhappy with her performance; she scored only 137.31 points.

21:17 And now - about the first European Championship. It took place in 1891 - that is, these days the anniversary, 110th European Championship is taking place. The tournament took place in Hamburg. It’s interesting that back then the competitions were held only in men’s singles!

21:10 So, if we start counting from the times of the Russian Empire, then Russia is hosting the European Championships for the sixth time. The first championship on the territory of the Russian Empire was held in Warsaw in January 1908.

In 1911, the championship was hosted by the capital - St. Petersburg. This city would later host the European Championship twice more: in 1970 and 1990.

In 1965 - 53 years ago - the European Championship was held in Moscow. By the way, she performed on ice then Tatiana Tarasova paired with Georgy Proskurin. They finished sixth. Today Tatyana Tarasova is again taking part in the European Championships - but in the role of a commentator.

21:05 Well, while the first warm-ups are on the ice, and the leaders are more than two hours away, we will tell you a little about the atmosphere of the tournament, about the organization, and right now a little about the history of the European Championships.

21:00 The final event of the program 110 of the European Championship is women's single skating. On the ice - the first warm-up, Elisabeth Kropa from Latvia has just completed her performance. And she ended up in last place based on the results of two programs...

In an interview, Evgenia Medvedeva said that in the free program she wants to go out on the ice “and just show the real Anna Karenina.” You can read the interview.

After the short program the places were distributed as follows:

1. Alina Zagitova (Russia) 80.27 points - personal best.

By the way, only one athlete in the history of figure skating received more points for a short program - Russian Evgenia Medvedeva at the World Team Championships in 2017 (80.85).

2. Evgenia Medvedeva (Russia) 78.57 points

3. Carolina Costner (Italy) 78.30.

4. Maria Sotskova (Russia) 68.70

The closing ceremony of the European Figure Skating Championships took place in Moscow. Fans remember him for his unconditional leadership of Russia. There were ups and downs, but the result of 9 prize medals out of 12 possible once again confirmed the continental leadership of Russian athletes in the ice arena.

The European Figure Skating Championships, held in Moscow, presented the fans with exactly what was expected of them: brilliant performances, intense competition and, naturally, an armful of prize medals. On January 21, demonstration performances and the closing ceremony took place. We recall the most striking events of the past continental tournament, which became a real pre-Olympic revelation for fans of Russian figure skating.

The girls demonstrated their free program at the championship on January 20. This battle closed the competitive part and made a beautiful finale for the European Championship. The first places, as expected, went to Russian athletes. Many figure skating fans were looking forward to the confrontation between the leaders - Evgenia Medvedeva and Alina Zagitova. The surprise was that the 15-year-old debutant beat the two-time world champion.

With a total number of points for the short and free programs of 238.24 points, she took gold Alina Zagitova. The public favorite, Evgenia Medvedeva, was only 6 points behind her competitor and, with a score of 232.86 points, received a silver medal for the first time in the last 2 years. Bronze went to the Italian athlete Caroline Kostner, whose score was 204.25 points.

It is worth noting that the result of the battle between Evgenia Medvedeva and Alina Zagitova cannot be considered final. However, Medvedeva did not have an easy first competition after her injury during the Grand Prix Championship. The girl returned to the ice, but did not have time to fully recover. Meanwhile, Zagitova almost broke Medvedeva’s world record in the free program. But everything will be decided by the Olympic Games in Pyeongchang.

Results of the European Figure Skating Championships 2018 in the men's category

The results of the men's competition at the European Championships were announced on January 19. And here Russian fans were expected to be completely disappointed in the favorite. Mikhail Kolyada became the winner of the Russian Championship, but was not ready for larger competitions, and his performance was a failure as a leader.

The winner in the men's category was a Spaniard Javier Fernandez with a score of 295.55 points. Gold at the European Championships was the sixth in the skater’s career. Dmitry Aliyev took responsibility for including Russia in the top three and showed a worthy result. With a score of 274.06 points, he took second place. As for Mikhail Kolyada, after failing in the free program he received a bronze medal with a score of 258.90 points.

Results of the 2018 European Figure Skating Championships among pairs

Sports couples were the very first to complete the competition at the European Championships and the results were known already on January 19th. In this category, Russian skaters are celebrating a complete victory. Three couples representing Russia took the entire podium.

The leader in the confrontation between sports couples was Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov. With a total score of 221.60 points, the couple took gold medals. At the same time, according to the results of the short program, Tarasova and Morozov took only fifth place, but defeated all competitors during the free program.

In addition to them, two other couples from Russia were also among the champions. Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov, gold medalists of the 2014 Sochi Olympics, received silver medals. Bronze went to Natalya Zabiyako and Alexander Enbert whose result was 210.18 points.

Results of the 2018 European Figure Skating Ice Dance Championships

The competition in the Ice Dancing category ended on January 20. And here Russian athletes did not leave their homeland without medals. And although they failed to achieve absolute championship, the results still pleased the fans.

The gold in the competition was won by the leaders among dance couples, representatives of France Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron. In addition to winning with a total of 203.16 points, the French also hold the record for the short program. Second place went to the Russian couple Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitry Solovyov, favorites of the Russian Championship. Moreover, after the free program they managed to move from fourth place to second. Bronze also went to Russian athletes, the pair of Alexandra Stepanova and Ivan Bukin.

In total, the European Figure Skating Championships brought Russia 9 prize medals, 2 of which were gold. Thus, Russian athletes once again proved their leadership in this sport. Previously, a triumphant final with nine medals had already happened in 1998 and 1999. Of course, the leaders of the European Championship will go to the Olympics in Pyeongchang to return again with victory