Two Bulgarian figure skaters had an unnerving start to the 38th European Championship in Lausanne, Switzerland last week. Ivan Dinev and Hristo Turlakov, who were bound for the qualifications for the championship on January 14, had to wait for four hours at the Sofia airport last Monday.
They were actually supposed to be there on January 12, but their flight to Paris was canceled due to bad weather. “We are going to miss the changeover for Lausanne and will probably arrive late for the competition or will have to perform tired to death,” said Dinev at the Sofia airport.
Still, once he arrived, the best Bulgarian figure skater managed to finish third in one of the two qualification rounds of the championship. However, on the second day of the competition, Dinev failed to offer his best performance and slipped back to seventh place.
The other Bulgarian, Turla-kov, took 27th spot in the qualifications and failed to find a place among the finalists.
Triple world and double European champion Alexei Yagudin (Russia) was unbeatable in the absence of world champion Evgenii Plushchenko, also from Russia. The 21-year-old Yagudin performed masterfully and had little trouble with the quadruple-triple loop combination.
Yagudin took the gold medal, ahead of silver medallist Russian Alexander Abt. In third was the surprise of the championship, 17-year-old Brian Joubert from France.
There was no surprise in the pairs competition. A Russian couple occupied the first spot for the 35th time out of 38 championships held so far. The last time a non-Russian couple managed to win the title was back in 1983. In Lausanne, the Russian duo Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin earned the gold.
They executed a perfect free skating programme, played to music from West Side Story. “Figure skating is a tradition in Russia, it is handed over from generation to generation. Today we skated perfectly,” Marinin said after the win. The silver medalists were Sarah Abitbol and Stepfane Bernadis of France and bronze went to double European and world champions Maria Petrova and Alexei Tikhonov of Russia.
However, last Saturday, the final day of the competition, was a day for the history books for Bulgaria. The ice dancing couple of Albena Denkova and Maxim Stavrijski accomplished a feat which no other Bulgarian couple had before. After two compulsory dances (waltz and blues) and the original dance, they managed to finish in sixth place after the free programme.
This marked the best ever Bulgarian performance in a European Championship.
The 2000 world and European champions, Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat (France), won the title after a close battle with their major competitors, Italians Barbara Fuzer Poli and Maurizio Margaglio (last year’s world and European champions), who finished second.
The bronze medals went to Irina Lobacheva and Ilia Averbukh of Russia. Their programme was dedicated to the US after the terrorist attacks on September 11. This Russian duo has lived in the US since 1996. “Our programme is against terrorism in general, but also praises love. We are happy with our performance, but most of all with the support of the audience,” said Averbukh after the ceremony.
In the individual contest last Saturday, 29-year-old Russian Maria Butyrskaya dethroned her Russian colleague Irina Slutskaya to win the gold medal. Butyrskaya was best both in the qualifications and in the short programme. The superiority of the Russian women on the last day of the championships was confirmed as Victoria Volchko-va won the bronze medal for the fourth time.
Overall, the Russians were the big winners, taking eight out of 12 medals. The remaining four were shared by France and Italy.
Bulgaria, where no more than 50 figure skaters train, had a relatively good showing – sixth place for Denkova-Stavrijski, seventh for Dinev, and 27th for Turlakov.
They were actually supposed to be there on January 12, but their flight to Paris was canceled due to bad weather. “We are going to miss the changeover for Lausanne and will probably arrive late for the competition or will have to perform tired to death,” said Dinev at the Sofia airport.
Still, once he arrived, the best Bulgarian figure skater managed to finish third in one of the two qualification rounds of the championship. However, on the second day of the competition, Dinev failed to offer his best performance and slipped back to seventh place.
The other Bulgarian, Turla-kov, took 27th spot in the qualifications and failed to find a place among the finalists.
Triple world and double European champion Alexei Yagudin (Russia) was unbeatable in the absence of world champion Evgenii Plushchenko, also from Russia. The 21-year-old Yagudin performed masterfully and had little trouble with the quadruple-triple loop combination.
Yagudin took the gold medal, ahead of silver medallist Russian Alexander Abt. In third was the surprise of the championship, 17-year-old Brian Joubert from France.
There was no surprise in the pairs competition. A Russian couple occupied the first spot for the 35th time out of 38 championships held so far. The last time a non-Russian couple managed to win the title was back in 1983. In Lausanne, the Russian duo Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin earned the gold.
They executed a perfect free skating programme, played to music from West Side Story. “Figure skating is a tradition in Russia, it is handed over from generation to generation. Today we skated perfectly,” Marinin said after the win. The silver medalists were Sarah Abitbol and Stepfane Bernadis of France and bronze went to double European and world champions Maria Petrova and Alexei Tikhonov of Russia.
However, last Saturday, the final day of the competition, was a day for the history books for Bulgaria. The ice dancing couple of Albena Denkova and Maxim Stavrijski accomplished a feat which no other Bulgarian couple had before. After two compulsory dances (waltz and blues) and the original dance, they managed to finish in sixth place after the free programme.
This marked the best ever Bulgarian performance in a European Championship.
The 2000 world and European champions, Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat (France), won the title after a close battle with their major competitors, Italians Barbara Fuzer Poli and Maurizio Margaglio (last year’s world and European champions), who finished second.
The bronze medals went to Irina Lobacheva and Ilia Averbukh of Russia. Their programme was dedicated to the US after the terrorist attacks on September 11. This Russian duo has lived in the US since 1996. “Our programme is against terrorism in general, but also praises love. We are happy with our performance, but most of all with the support of the audience,” said Averbukh after the ceremony.
In the individual contest last Saturday, 29-year-old Russian Maria Butyrskaya dethroned her Russian colleague Irina Slutskaya to win the gold medal. Butyrskaya was best both in the qualifications and in the short programme. The superiority of the Russian women on the last day of the championships was confirmed as Victoria Volchko-va won the bronze medal for the fourth time.
Overall, the Russians were the big winners, taking eight out of 12 medals. The remaining four were shared by France and Italy.
Bulgaria, where no more than 50 figure skaters train, had a relatively good showing – sixth place for Denkova-Stavrijski, seventh for Dinev, and 27th for Turlakov.
