2010 European Championships: Carolina Kostner wins gold

Every time I write Italy's Carolina Kostner off as too much of a headcase, she pulls out a win! This time, at the 2010 European Figure Skating Championships in Tallinn, Estonia -- Carolina (who won this event twice before) came in first in the short and long to win the gold medal. She didn't have a perfect free skate but it was good enough to beat Laura Lepisto of Finland, last year's European champion. A great day also for Georgia's Elena Gedevanishvili who took the bronze medal -- last year, Elena was 25th at Europeans so what a difference a year makes.

Susanna Poykio from Finland withdrew after placing 18th in the short. I read that she was suffering from back injuries, or it could be that she was 18th after the short. And is that Joelle Forte from the U.S. who is competing for Azerbaijan? Joelle was competing in the U.S. and training with coach Elaine Zayak -- Did someone kidnap her and force her to compete for another country?

Complete results for the ladies are below. (Note: SP=Short Program and FS=Free Skate)

FPl	Name	Nation	Points	SP	FS
1	Carolina KOSTNER	ITA	173.46	1	1
2	Laura LEPISTÖ	FIN	166.37	3	3
3	Elene GEDEVANISHVILI	GEO	164.54	4	2
4	Kiira KORPI	FIN	163.68	2	5
5	Sarah MEIER	SUI	157.44	8	4
6	Julia SEBESTYEN	HUN	156.77	6	6
7	Alena LEONOVA	RUS	153.57	5	7
8	Valentina MARCHEI	ITA	149.46	7	8
9	Ksenia MAKAROVA	RUS	146.85	9	9
10	Elena GLEBOVA	EST	138.93	13	10
11	Viktoria HELGESSON	SWE	137.10	12	12
12	Tugba KARADEMIR	TUR	136.42	10	13
13	Oksana GOZEVA	RUS	135.39	14	11
14	Jenna MCCORKELL	GBR	128.06	11	17
15	Ivana REITMAYEROVA	SVK	125.31	15	14
16	Sarah HECKEN	GER	121.79	16	16
17	Sonia LAFUENTE	ESP	121.15	17	15
18	Natalia POPOVA	UKR	113.35	20	18
19	Teodora POSTIC	SLO	113.35	19	19
WD	Susanna PÖYKIÖ	FIN		18
21	Tamar KATZ	ISR	FNR	21
22	Katsiarina PAKHAMOVICH	BLR	FNR	22
23	Karly ROBERTSON	GBR	FNR	23
24	Shira WILLNER	GER	FNR	24
25	Miriam ZIEGLER	AUT	FNR	25
26	Mirna LIBRIC	CRO	FNR	26
27	Martina BOCEK	CZE	FNR	27
28	Manouk GIJSMAN	NED	FNR	28
29	Erle HARSTAD	NOR	FNR	29
30	Birce ATABEY	TUR	FNR	30
31	Katherine HADFORD	HUN	FNR	31
32	Karina JOHNSON	DEN	FNR	32
33	Isabelle PIEMAN	BEL	FNR	33
34	Fleur MAXWELL	LUX	FNR	34
35	Beatrice ROZINSKAITE	LTU	FNR	35
36	Clara PETERS	IRL	FNR	36
37	Sabina PAQUIER	ROU	FNR	37
38	Marina SEEH	SRB	FNR	38
39	Zanna PUGACA	LAT	FNR	39
40	Sonia RADEVA	BUL	FNR	40
41	Maria PAPASOTIRIOU	GRE	FNR	41
W/D	Joelle FORTE	AZE

FNR=Final Not Reached; W/D=Withdrawn

2010 European Championships: Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin win gold

The ice dancing competition concluded at the 2010 European Figure Skating Championships in Tallinn, Estonia. Of note, look who won the original and free dance -- Federica Faiella and Massimo Scali from Italy! What a surprise and if they had had a stronger compulsory dance, the results would be different. Gold medalists Oksana and Maxim still can't quiet the controversy over their Aboriginal original dance costumes (see right) -- Is it insulting? Is it authentic? Should they modify the costume for the Olympics? The drama continues.

Final standings for ice dance are below. (Note: CD=Compulsory Dance; OD=Original Dance; FD=Free Dance)

FPl	Name	Nat	Points	CD	OD	FD
1	Oksana DOMNINA / Maxim SHABALIN	RUS	199.25	1	2	2
2	Federica FAIELLA / Massimo SCALI	ITA	195.86	3	1	1
3	Jana KHOKHLOVA / Sergei NOVITSKI	RUS	189.67	2	4	3
4	Nathalie PECHALAT / Fabian BOURZAT	FRA	188.51	5	3	4
5	Sinead KERR / John KERR	GBR	184.05	4	5	5
6	Anna CAPPELLINI / Luca LANOTTE	ITA	176.10	6	9	6
7	Alexandra ZARETSKY / Roman ZARETSKY	ISR	174.91	7	6	9
8	Anna ZADOROZHNIUK / Sergei VERBILLO	UKR	171.28	9	7	8
9	Ekaterina BOBROVA / Dmitri SOLOVIEV	RUS	171.26	8	8	7
10	Nora HOFFMANN / Maxim ZAVOZIN	HUN	163.21	11	11	10
11	Alla BEKNAZAROVA / Vladimir ZUEV	UKR	162.82	10	10	12
12	Pernelle CARRON / Lloyd JONES	FRA	159.52	12	12	11
13	Caitlin MALLORY / Kristjan RAND	EST	155.93	15	15	13
14	Zoe BLANC / Pierre-Loup BOUQUET	FRA	147.56	17	13	14
15	Christina BEIER / William BEIER	GER	147.36	13	14	16
16	Penny COOMES / Nicholas BUCKLAND	GBR	145.91	16	16	15
17	Kira GEIL / Dmitri MATSJUK	AUT	FNR	14	19
18	Kamila HAJKOVA / David VINCOUR	CZE	FNR	18	17
19	Allison REED / Otar JAPARIDZE	GEO	FNR	22	18
20	Nikola VISNOVA / Lukas CSOLLEY	SVK	FNR	21	20
21	Katelyn GOOD / Nikolaj SORENSEN	DEN	FNR	20	21
22	Federica TESTA / Christopher MIOR	ITA	FNR	19	24
23	Nikki GEORGIADIS / Graham HOCKLEY	GRE	FNR	24	23
24	Oksana KLIMOVA / Sasha PALOMÄKI	FIN	FNR	25	22
25	Ramona ELSENER / Florian ROOST	SUI	FNR	23	25
26	Lesia VALADZENKAVA / Vitali VAKUNOV	BLR	FNR	26	26
WD	Virginiya HOPTMAN / Pavel FILCHENKOV	AZE

FNR=Final Not Reached

2010 European Championships: Evgeni Plushenko wins gold, Lambiel second, Joubert third

It's Evgeni Plushenko, Stephane Lambiel and Brian Joubert taking gold, silver and bronze at the 2010 ISU European Figure Skating Championships, in Tallinn, Estonia. Plushenko and Lambiel took gold and silver, respectively, at the 2006 Winter Olympics and both came out of retirement to go for Olympic gold. Joubert, a three-time European champion, had a disappointing third place finish and vowed to be ready for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. With the U.S. Nationals, Canadian Nationals, Japanese Nationals and European Championships concluded, the men's event at the Olympics is shaping out to be the most exciting -- you have Plushenko, Lambiel, Joubert, Patrick Chan, Nobunari Oda, Daisuke Takahashi, Evan Lysacek, Jeremy Abbott, Johnny Weir and a few others who could just surprise everyone and be on the podium. Only 23 days until the men's short program on February 16!

Complete results for the men are below. (Note: SP=Short Program and FS=Free Skate)

FPl	Name	Nation	Points	SP	FS
1	Evgeni PLUSHENKO	RUS	255.39	1	1
2	Stephane LAMBIEL	SUI	238.54	5	2
3	Brian JOUBERT	FRA	236.45	2	3
4	Michal BREZINA	CZE	224.74	4	5
5	Samuel CONTESTI	ITA	221.33	7	4
6	Yannick PONSERO	FRA	219.52	3	7
7	Alban PREAUBERT	FRA	207.61	6	9
8	Javier FERNANDEZ	ESP	204.83	13	6
9	Stefan LINDEMANN	GER	203.95	9	8
10	Tomas VERNER	CZE	203.18	8	10
11	Kevin VAN DER PERREN	BEL	195.48	11	11
12	Adrian SCHULTHEISS	SWE	188.79	12	13
13	Anton KOVALEVSKI	UKR	186.84	14	14
14	Sergei VORONOV	RUS	185.38	17	12
15	Kristoffer BERNTSSON	SWE	183.10	10	17
16	Paolo BACCHINI	ITA	181.42	16	15
17	Viktor PFEIFER	AUT	178.41	15	16
18	Gregor URBAS	SLO	163.84	20	18
19	Zoltan KELEMEN	ROU	161.10	18	20
20	Jorik HENDRICKX	BEL	161.06	19	19
21	Maciej CIEPLUCHA	POL	FNR	21
22	Ari-Pekka NURMENKARI	FIN	FNR	22
23	Karel ZELENKA	ITA	FNR	23
24	Peter REITMAYER	SVK	FNR	24
25	Maxim SHIPOV	ISR	FNR	25
26	Boris MARTINEC	CRO	FNR	26
27	Matthew PARR	GBR	FNR	27
28	Damjan OSTOJIC	BIH	FNR	28
29	Viktor ROMANENKOV	EST	FNR	29
30	Alexandr KAZAKOV	BLR	FNR	30
31	Kutay ERYOLDAS	TUR	FNR	31
32	Boyito MULDER	NED	FNR	32
33	Marton MARKO	HUN	FNR	33
34	Saulius AMBRULEVICIUS	LTU	FNR	34
35	Girts JEKABSONS	LAT	FNR	35
36	Georgi KENCHADZE	BUL	FNR	36
37	Pierre BALIAN	ARM	FNR	37
38	Joffrey BOURDON	MNE	WD

FNR=Final not reached

2010 European Championships: Yuko Kavaguti and Alexander Smirnov win gold in pairs

Complete results for pairs at 2010 ISU European Figure Skating Championships in Tallinn, Estonia. (Note: SP=Short Program and FS=Free Skate)

FPl	Name	Nation	Points	SP	FS
1	Yuko KAVAGUTI / Alexander SMIRNOV	RUS	213.15	2	1
2	Aliona SAVCHENKO / Robin SZOLKOWY	GER	211.72	1	2
3	Maria MUKHORTOVA / Maxim TRANKOV	RUS	202.03	3	3
4	Tatiana VOLOSOZHAR / Stanislav MOROZOV	UKR	187.83	4	4
5	Vera BAZAROVA / Yuri LARIONOV	RUS	159.84	5	6
6	Nicole DELLA MONICA / Yannick KOCON	ITA	156.80	6	5
7	Vanessa JAMES / Yannick BONHEUR	FRA	151.28	7	7
8	Anais MORAND / Antoine DORSAZ	SUI	144.95	11	8
9	Maylin HAUSCH / Daniel WENDE	GER	142.76	9	9
10	Adeline CANAC / Maximin COIA	FRA	139.73	8	11
11	Stacey KEMP / David KING	GBR	137.29	13	10
12	Erica RISSEEUW / Robert PAXTON	GBR	130.09	14	12
13	Maria SERGEJEVA / Ilja GLEBOV	EST	129.46	12	13
14	Joanna SULEJ / Mateusz CHRUSCINSKI	POL	124.79	10	15
15	Jessica CRENSHAW / Chad TSAGRIS	GRE	115.59	16	14
16	Nina IVANOVA / Filip ZALEVSKI	BUL	106.31	15	16
17	Lubov BAKIROVA / Mikalai KAMIANCHUK	BLR	FNR	17
18	Danielle MONTALBANO / Evgeni KRASNOPOLSKI	ISR	FNR	18
19	Gabriela CERMANOVA / Martin HANULAK	SVK	FNR	19
20	Victoria HECHT / Christopher TREFIL	HUN	FNR	20
W/D	Marika ZANFORLIN / Federico DEGLI ESPOSTI	ITA

*W/D Withdrawn

*FNR Final Not Reached

Laura Lepisto wins 2009 European Figure Skating Championships

Laura Lipisto from Finland held off two-time European and defending champion Carolina Kostner from Italy to win the 2009 European Figure Skating Championships. Laura, last year's bronze medalist, won the gold with a total of 167.32. Carolina was not far behind with 165.42 points and actually won the free skate. With the new judging point system in place, there was only 1.9 points separating first and second place overall. Laura's compatriot Susanna Poykio, the 2005 European silver medalist, made a comeback of sorts and won the bronze medal. (Switzerland's Sarah Meier, two-time European silver medalist, did not compete due to a back injury and has stated that she hopes to be well enough to compete at the World Championships in Los Angeles in March.) Update 01/26: The Italian Skating Federation has requested that the ISU review the marks received by Kostner. Apparently they believe that a spin in Carolina's long program was not counted. To be continued...Update 02/02: ISU has declined to review the complaint and stated that results as published are final.

What a great moment for Finland. The only other time a Finnish skater won the European title was in 1995 when ice dancers Susanna Rahkamo and Petri Kokko won gold. With Kiira Korpi's fifth place finish, Finland is very well represented on the European stage.

Complete results for the ladies are below. (Note: SP=Short Program and FS=Free Skate)

FPl	Name	Nation	Points	SP	FS
1	Laura LEPISTÖ	FIN	167.32	1	2
2	Carolina KOSTNER	ITA	165.42	3	1
3	Susanna PÖYKIÖ	FIN	156.31	2	3
4	Alena LEONOVA	RUS	143.99	11	4
5	Kiira KORPI	FIN	139.01	7	6
6	Katarina GERBOLDT	RUS	137.05	5	8
7	Annette DYTRT	GER	136.98	12	5
8	Julia SEBESTYEN	HUN	134.47	14	7
9	Jenna MCCORKELL	GBR	131.42	4	12
10	Tugba KARADEMIR	TUR	130.85	9	10
11	Ivana REITMAYEROVA	SVK	130.20	6	11
12	Elena GLEBOVA	EST	128.36	13	9
13	Candice DIDIER	FRA	124.07	16	13
14	Nella SIMAOVA	CZE	120.61	10	17
15	Francesca RIO	ITA	119.61	17	15
16	Stefania BERTON	ITA	118.97	18	16
17	Viktoria HELGESSON	SWE	118.39	24	14
18	Teodora POSTIC	SLO	114.95	15	18
19	Irina MOVCHAN	UKR	111.52	8	20
20	Kerstin FRANK	AUT	104.92	22	19
21	Karly ROBERTSON	GBR	104.44	21	21
22	Manouk GIJSMAN	NED	103.28	19	22
23	Sonia LAFUENTE	ESP	101.70	20	23
24	Isabelle PIEMAN	BEL	96.64	23	24
25	Elene GEDEVANISHVILI	GEO	FNR	25
26	Nicole GRAF	SUI	FNR	26
27	Roxana LUCA	ROU	FNR	27
28	Noemie SILBERER	SUI	FNR	28
29	Erle HARSTAD	NOR	FNR	29
30	Emma HAGIEVA	AZE	FNR	30
31	Katherine HADFORD	HUN	FNR	31
32	Zanna PUGACA	LAT	FNR	32
33	Sonia RADEVA	BUL	FNR	33
34	Mirna LIBRIC	CRO	FNR	34
35	Karina JOHNSON	DEN	FNR	35
36	Beatrice ROZINSKAITE	LTU	FNR	36
37	Julia SHEREMET	BLR	FNR	37
38	Clara PETERS	IRL	FNR	38
39	Maria PAPASOTIRIOU	GRE	FNR	39
40	Ani VARDANYAN	ARM	FNR	40
W/D	Jenna SYKEN	ISR

FNR=Final Not Reached; W/D=Withdrawn