Beaten last year when she was favorite, the Belgian Loena Hendrickx assumed her rank this time to seize her first title of European figure skating champion, Saturday in Kaunas (Lithuania), where the French won collected several places of honor. For her first Euro, 17-year-old Frenchwoman Lorine Schild obtained a promising fifth place, while in ice dancing, the French couple Lopareva-Brissaud finished fourth, just ahead of the Demougeot-Le Mercier pair.
At the end of an almost flawless free program, Hendrickx, 24, collected a cumulative score of 213.25 points and is ahead of the one who deprived her of the title last year, the Georgian Anastasiia Gubanova (206, 52 pts). Another Belgian, the young Nina Pinzarrone, 17 years old, completes the podium (202.29 pts).
“I think it was one of the competitions where I had the most fun,” appreciated Hendrickx, carried by the music of Madonna and Beyoncé. “Normally it’s only after the jumps that I start to enjoy myself, but after the triple-triple combination I felt really relaxed.” “I know I can do better but I’m super happy because I really had fun on the ice.”
Big favorite for gold in 2023, Hendrickx was surprised by Gubanova and had to settle for a disappointing silver medal after falling twice in the free program. “There was a lot of stress, I felt pressure but I tried to enjoy the performance,” she said. In the absence of the Russian skaters, the double world medalist, winner of Skate America in the fall, won her first continental title.
She will now try to shake up the Japanese Kaori Sakamoto, double reigning world champion, during the World Championships in Montreal in March. The only Frenchwoman entered, Lorine Schild achieved a promising fifth place for her first Euro with 183.36 points. At 17, the recent French champion delivered a gentle performance on London Grammar, a program choreographed by Olympic ice dancing champion Gabriella Papadakis. “I am very happy because I not only reached the top 10 but I even did better than that,” smiled the Frenchwoman.
“I think some dynamics weren’t there at the beginning but I was able to pick myself up and skate well after that. There were a few small errors but I am very satisfied,” she continued. “For a first participation, it’s really good. I’m going to take as much experience as I can and I’m going to keep going.”
In ice dancing, the title went, like last year, to the Italians Charlène Guignard and Marco Fabbri. Accompanied by the poetic music of the film “A Wonderful History of Time”, Guignard and Fabbri collected a total score of 214.38 points. They retained their title in the absence of French Olympic champions Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron, who put their careers on pause for a second season in a row.
The Italian duo precedes the British Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson, already vice-European champions last year, who delivered a performance full of humor and energy on the theme of the film “Rocky” (210.82 pts ). Two French duos placed themselves at the foot of the podium. Fourth after the rhythm dance, the French Evgenia Lopareva and Geoffrey Brissaud retained their place at the foot of the podium (197.17). To the dramatic chords of Sergei Rachmaninov, Lopareva and Brissaud beat their personal best and continue their progression by moving up one place compared to last year.
Those who share their training time between Lyon and Montreal remained in two third places in Grand Prix this season. Just behind, another French duo, Loïcia Demougeot and Théo Le Mercier, took fifth place with 192.15 points. Marie Dupayage and Thomas Nabais took twelfth place (170.98).
