We look back on an extraordinary European Championships event, held in Kaunas, Lithuania. Along with expected gold medal wins from Adam Siao Him Fa and Leona Hendrickx came an unforgettable bronze medal performance from hometown ice dance team Allison Reed and Saulius Ambrulevicius on par with any Olympic moment we’ve ever seen.

 

The 2024 European Championships showed that figure skating can still thrill huge audiences! Hosted in Kaunas, Lithuania, this remarkable event saw France’s Adam Siao Him Fa defend his title, Belgium’s Loena Hendrickx finally win her first Euro gold, and the hometown team of Allison Reed and Saulius Ambrulevicius win every heart and possibly the most inspiring bronze medal ever.

Between all of that and a completely unpredictable pairs competition, and it’s clear that Europeans delivered one of the most exciting competitions in recent memory. 

Ice Dance Competition

 The marquee event of the competition — and possibly the most well attended ice dance event in years — the dance event not only did not disappoint, but genuinely overwhelmed. With the so many teams showing off just how deep this field truly was, Italy’s Charlene Guignard & Marco Fabbri managed to pull out their second straight European title. Their biggest continental rivals this season, Great Britain’s Lilah Fear & Lewis Gibson, put on a very strong but ever-so-slightly flawed performance that was still absolutely crowd-please and a lock for silver.

However, the biggest story for this competition was the bronze medal team – Lithuania’s Allison Reed & Saulius Ambrulevicius. The support and enthusiasm this team was shown by the sellout crowd could have added too much pressure for some — but Reed and Ambrulevicius stepped up to the challenge in phenomenal style with two near-flawless programs. Truly an evening that will not soon be forgotten!

Men’s Competition

As predicted by us and many others, Adam Siao Him Fa successfully defended his title, winning here handily — if not easily. While fantastic, both of his programs did have some tension and flaws — however, his performances were still in a league of their own. We can’t wait to see what he brings to Worlds this March.

The surprise silver medalist, Estonia’s Aleksandr Selevko, was really the story of the competition. With an exciting, original short program, he slid into third ahead of many other more seasoned competitors. Then, after the typically consistent Lukas Britschgi fell fifth in the long program, Aleksandr stepped up to grab the second spot.

In third, and possibly with the performance of the night, Matteo Rizzo skated a remarkably emotional free skate that moved him up from sixth to a bronze medal. 

Women’s Competition

While the top three women here could have been predicted beforehand, how tight the completion was and well each woman skated shows just how closely matched they are.

At the top of the podium, Belgium’s Loena Hendrickx finally fulfilled on all of her promise and earned her first Europeans gold. With two aggressive and charismatic programs, she fought for every step, overcame a couple of minor errors, and delivered her own uniquely powerful brand of skating. 

In second overall — but with the top technical score — 2023 European Champion, Georgia’s Anastasia Gubanova, threw down two clean programs that proved that she is still one of the top women in the world.

With the bronze, Belgium’s Nina Pinzarrone continued her strong, consistent season with programs showing both her technical prowess and the growing artistic identity. 

Pairs Competition

Of all disciplines, the Pairs field was certainly the most closely matched — with the top 6 teams being separated by less than 12 points. 

With an unexpected victory, Italy’s Lucrezia Beccari & Matteo Guarise skated two excellent programs that showed just how good this relatively new pairing is.

They edged out the recently crowned Junior Grand Prix Champs, Georgia’s Anastasiia Metelkina & Luka Berulava, who led after the short but fell short in the free skate.

Italy saw a second podium placement in this discipline with Rebecca Ghilardi & Filippo Ambrosini — who jumped from 5th to 3rd after a brilliant free program.

The favorites coming in, Germany’s Hase & Volodin, had their first rough competition of the season and landed in fifth behind the consistently strong team from Hungary, Maria Pavlova & Alexei Sviatchenko. 

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