The top German duo Minerva Hase and Nikita Volodin clearly missed out on the title at the European Figure Skating Championships in Sheffield, UK, thus suffering a setback just a few weeks before the Olympic Games.
After a disappointing freestyle with a fall on the Throwrittberger and a lift, the two only took second place with a total of 203.87 points. The Georgians Anastasia Metelkina/Luka Berulawa (215.76 points) won the pair skating title for the first time, and they were just ahead of Hase/Volodin after the short program.
“Everything is still open”Hase had said before the freestyle. But, as in the short program, Hase/Volodin were unable to deliver a flawless performance. On the contrary: the narrow gap continued to grow in the freestyle. Maria Pavlova/Alexei Sviatchenko (202.56 points) from Hungary took third place. The second German duo Annika Hocke/Robert Kunkel (188.27 points) landed in a good fourth place, as they did after the short program.
The dream of winning the Olympics remains
Even though Hase/Volodin had to settle for silver in Sheffield, they are among the medal contenders at the Olympic Games in Italy in a month’s time; the two 26-year-olds are even dreaming of gold at the highlight of the season. In order to fulfill this dream, Hase/Volodin, in contrast to the European Championships, need two flawless performances in both the short program and the free skate.
In addition to the Georgians Metelkina/Berulawa, the world champions Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara from Japan and the Italians Sara Conti/Niccolò Macii are among the biggest competitors. The pair missed the European Championships due to Conti’s injury.