Russian pairs, French ice dancers win gold

Russian pairs skaters Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov and French ice dancers Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron put their injury woes behind them to claim gold at the European figure-skating championships on Saturday.

Olympic champions Volosozhar and Trankov totalled 222.66 points to take their fourth continental title and first since 2014 ahead of Germany's Aliona Savchenko and Bruno Massot (200.78).

Another Russian pair, Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov took bronze (197.55) on the final day of competition.

The victory was a sweet one also for the 29-year-old Volosozhar and 32-year-old Trankov as they were sidelined for all of last year due to a shoulder injury sustained by Trankov.

It was their first major competition in two years for the husband and wife team since they won gold at the Sochi Olympics.

Volosozhar and Trankov scored 142.89 for their free skate to "Dracula".
Despite all the problems we had before, I think this was quite a good free programme for us. We skate better and better each competition, so I think we are going the right way for the worlds," said Trankov ahead of the world championships in Boston in March where they will bid to capture a second title after 2013.

The German pairing of Savchenko and Massot won their first medal at international level in what was their first appearance together.

Savchenko previously won two Olympic medals and five world titles with her previous partner Robin Szolkowy before teaming up with Frenchman Massot two years ago.

- Concussion worry -

The French ice dancers were also participating in their first international competition this season after missing two months of training after Papadakis suffered concussion in a practice fall last August.
They had been trailing in second after the short dance but pulled ahead in the free dance to score 182.71 points overall, with Italy's Anna Capellini and Luca Lanotte, the world and European champions in 2014, having to settle for silver with 178.01.

Russia's Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev won bronze, 176.50.

The free dance is the French skaters' strong point and skating to the music of Italian composer Ezio Bosso and British jazz group The Cinematic Orchestra, they gave a seamless performance, for which they received a standing ovation from the 6,000-strong crowd.

"It was truly magic. We knew in our hearts that we had achieved something very strong emotionally," said Papadakis.

Cizeron added: "It feels even more amazing than last year, because we proved that we can do it again.
"We arrived a little late on the circuit but despite this we managed to give the best of ourselves."

Papadakis, 20, and Cizeron, 21, burst to the fore last season during their senior debut becoming the youngest European champions in 49 years, going on to take gold at worlds.

- Russia top medals -

Russia took two of the four titles on offer in the Slovak capital this week after Evgenia Medvedeva lead a Russian women's podium sweep.

The 16-year-old took her first European gold ahead of teammates Elena Radionova, 17, and Anna Pogorilaya, 17, after the free skating final on Friday night.

Russian women have now won the last three titles, notching up ten of the twelve medals on offer over the past four championships.

World champion Javier Fernandez won a fourth straight men's title ahead of Israel's Alexei Bychenko and Russia's Maxim Kovtun on Thursday.

In total Russia claimed seven of the 12 medals on offer in Bratislava, with Bychenko's medal a first for Isreal at an international figure skating event.
SourcE: AFP