The top German pair Minerva Hase and Nikita Volodin showed nerves in the short program at the European Figure Skating Championships in Sheffield. But the dream of defending the title is alive.
The favored vice world champions from Berlin scored 74.81 points at the start of the title fights in England on Wednesday and are therefore in second place behind the currently leading Georgians Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava (75.96 points).
Hase/Volodin presented their newly composed tango for the Olympic season (“El Abrazo” by Maxime Rodriguez) and put on a solid, but by no means perfect performance. The pair had to cope with a setback early on when Hase had to brace himself with his hand on the ice during a triple salchow. Afterwards, both of them showed no more nerves. The medal decision will be made in the free skate on Thursday evening.
Rabbit: “We were a bit nervous”
For the defending champions, the European Championships are also the dress rehearsal before the Olympic Games in Milan (February 6th to 22nd). The German duo is starting there with medal hopes, and in Sheffield they are among the top favorites, as they were last year. “We were a bit nervous. But there were a lot of good elements in our program. We go into the freestyle like any other freestyle” said Hare. Volodin said: “We are never completely satisfied after a short program with an error.“
The second German duo also put in a good performance. Annika Hocke and Robert Kunkel, who won bronze at the European Championships three years ago, performed a solid short program to the music of Lady Gaga (“Hold My Hand”) and are currently in fourth place with 65.47 points. However, the gap to the Hungarians Maria Pavlova/Alexei Sviatchenko (73.32) in third place is already considerable. “We felt safe on the ice, but we could still do better” said Hocke. Kunkel added: “We only made a few small mistakes that were hardly noticed.“
Ice dance: Cancellation by van Rensburg/Steffan
The five-time German ice dance champions Jennifer Janse van Rensburg and Benjamin Steffan had to pass at short notice. The German Ice Skating Union announced that Steffan stopped official training on Tuesday due to an infection.
“It’s a real shame that we can’t compete at the European Championships“explained van Rensburg.”But health comes first and we don’t want to take any risks on our way to the Olympic Games. The Winter Games in Milan are the big goal.“The duo Charise Matthaei/Max Liebers (Chemnitz) took over for the five-time German champions.