The 2014 European Figure Skating Championships,Isuzu Auto Parts
the
last competition in the field before the Sochi Olympics next month, got
underway in Budapest on Wednesday with the women's and ice dance short
programs.The women's event was dominated by Russian skaters, who scored
first, second and fourth places,honeycomb paper ball
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with
Italy's Carolina Kostner the only outsider.Adelina Sotnikova's
career-high score of 70.73 put her to the first place and novice Julia
Lipnitskaia's 69.87 placed her second, with Kostner taking third with
68.97 and Alena Leonova in fourth.This was a second-time triumph for
17-year-old Sotnikova, following her first-place finishing in the short
program at last year's Europeans, only to be beaten by Kostner in the
free skate, which relegated her to the second place overall.Lipnitskaia,
who at age 15 is the youngest participant in the contest, scored the
highest for technical elements at 38.06, but was marked down for style
where she finished behind Sotnikova and Kostner, putting her in second
place overall after the short program. Her opening triple lutz-triple
toe loop combination was the toughest of all the jumps seen.Kostner,Lululemon Women's Pants
26, is among the older skaters. She is also a five- time winner of the European Championships, starting with 2007.
The
Russians will send two skaters to this event in Sochi, and Friday's
free skate is likely to determine which of the three get the spots. The
women's free skating event will be on Friday.Top slot in the ice dance
short program went to Italy's Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte with
69.58 points,honeycomb party decoration
just
a hair's breadth ahead of Russians Elena Ilinykh and Nikita Katsalapov
with 69.54 points, and that order could easily be turned around in the
free skating. Britain's Penny Coomes and Nicholas Buckland came in third
with 61.76 points, well behind the leaders.Cappellini and Lanotte were
bronze medalists at the 2013 Europeans and hope to do better this year.
Ilinykh and Katsalapov won silver at the 2013 Europeans and bronze in
2012, and clearly have their eye on the gold this year. Coomes and
Buckland were fifth in the 2013 European Championships and 6th in 2012.
They will have to work hard to hold that third place against some
formidable rivals including two other Russian teams, a top rated
Azerbaijani couple and a German dancing couple, all of who came in
within 2 points of the Brits. The ice dance free skating will be on
Thursday.A total of 170 skaters from 33 countries and regions compete in
the tournament. Pair skater Robin Szolkowy of Germany is the oldest
overall competitor at 34, and his partner, Aliona Savchenko is the
oldest of the woman at 29.Three reigning European champions have
returned to defend their titles. In addition to Italy's Carolina
Kostner, Javier Fernandez of Spain has returned in the men's event, and
pair skaters Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov of Russia are also
taking to the ice.