Russians Retain European Ice Dancing Title

Russia's Tatiana Navka and Roman Kostomarov File photo by Michelle Harvath

2005 European Championships Results

(1/28/05) - Tatiana Navka and Roman Kostomarov's free dance wasn't perfect, but it was good enough for them to retain their European ice dancing title.

Navka and Kostomarov's skate to “Tosca” was full of intricate spins and rotations. There were, however a few bobbles along the way as well, including a wobbly lift and glitches in the twizzles.

“They could have skated better but there was a little mistake at the beginning,” said their coach, Alexander Zhulin. “But I think it will be better for the Worlds and we will work hard for it.”

Navka and Kostomarov's win was the 16th European ice dancing title for Russia or the Soviet Union since 1985.

Second place went to the Ukraine's Elena Grushina and Ruslan Goncharov, though their routine to Vivaldi's “Four Seasons” was not the second best of the evening. That honor went to France's Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder who scored 104.38 points in the free dance and finished with a bronze medal overall.

Delobel and Schoenfelder earned some credit for the difficulty they displayed in their modern routine. The French duo scored a total of 202.10 points, just edging Israel's Galit Chait and Sergei Sakhnovsky who placed fourth with 200.98 points.

“Our free program was perfect,'' Delobel said. “I was a little nervous but after the first part I felt inside of me the right power.”

For Delobel and Schoenfelder, this was their first medal in a major international competition.

Albena Denkova and Maxim Staviyski of Bulgaria, who handed Navka and Kostomarov their only loss in the past two seasons last October at the NHK Trophy, were forced to withdraw from the competition when Denkova became too ill to continue.

Ladies Short Program

After nearly two seasons of setbacks, Irina Slutskaya returned to the European Figure Skating Championships and took the lead after the ladies short program Friday with an innovative routine and costume.

As she has done earlier in the season, the Russian wore trim black trousers lined with sparkles rather than a conventional dress for her "Lady and the Hooligan" routine. And, as has been the case all season, the judges rewarded her well for her technical ability as well as her performance.

“So far this season, I've always skated a clean short program, and my score was almost the same in all events,” Slutskaya said.

Slutskaya scored 65.02 points, placing her in front of Julia Sebestyen, who finished with 61.28 points. Third went to Finland's Susanna Poykio, who skated a clean program, but only scored 56.63 points.

Slutskaya missed most of last season due to an inflamed heart lining and various illnesses. In 2003 she had to the miss the World Championships to tend to her mother, who had a kidney problem. She is unbeaten, however, this season with three Grand Prix victories, including a win in the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final, a Russian national championship and a victory at the Marshalls World Cup of Figure Skating in December.

The women's free skate will be held Saturday. If Slutskaya wins the event she will tie the mark of six European titles set by Sonja Henie in the 1930s and Katarina Witt in the 1980s. Slutskaya won her first title in 1996 and followed with victories in 1997, 2000, 2001 and 2003.

Though Slutskaya is certainly looking ahead to her free skate, she still vividly recalls her first trip to the European Championships 10 years ago in Dortmund, Germany.

“I remember how I fought with my triple Lutz in '95. And I had no problem with the triple Salchow,” Slutskaya said. “I was so surprised. I remember how I was crying. And I remember, you know, those holes (in the ice) in Dortmund. Holes, holes, holes, everywhere.”

Sebestyen, who won the Europeans in her native Budapest last year, performed all of her elements cleanly, but lacked Slutskaya's artistry and difficulty in the spins.

Still the Hungarian was happy.

“My goal was to do a clean program and I did it,” Sebestyen said. “I will try to do the same for my free program.”

Fourth went to Elena Liashenko, last year's silver medalist, and Elena Sokolova placed fifth.