ISU European Figure Skating Championships 2024: Lucrezia Beccari and Matteo Guarise claim surprise pairs gold in Kaunas
The third-ranked Italian team on paper upstaged their compatriots to win the title from Georgia's Junior GPF champions Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava.
Figure Skating
Italy's Lucrezia Beccari and Matteo Guarise smashed their free skate personal best to take gold at the 2024 ISU European Figure Skating Championships on Thursday (11 January).
Skating to music from Andrew Lloyd Webber's 'Cats', 20-year-old former singles skater Beccari and 35-year-old Olympian Guarise performed a fluid and clean routine high on technical elements and skating skills.
It was a remarkable triumph for the duo who came into the event as the third-ranked Italian team having just missed out on last month's Grand Prix Final. And Guarise claimed his first European Championship medal in 10 attempts.
The NHK Trophy runners-up scored 132.14 for their free skate, almost seven points in excess of their previous best, to move up from third overnight in the Žalgiris Arena in Kaunas, Lithuania.
That gave them a winning total of 199.19, just over three points clear of recent Junior Grand Prix Final champions Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava.
The Georgians led after Thursday's short program but a fall by Metelkina on side-by-side triple Salchows and some minor skating errors ended their hopes of gold.
They were able to recover sufficiently in their upbeat routine to Queen's 'The Millionaire Waltz' and score 124.84. That was only the fifth-best free skate on the day but their total of 196.14 earned them silver.
Skate Canada runners-up Rebecca Ghilardi and Filippo Ambrosini had held the lead going into the final group of four duos with their own career-best free skate of 130.81. Their total of 195.68 saw them take bronze.
European pairs podium (L-R): Runners-up Anastasiia Metelkina/Luka Berulava, winners Lucrezia Beccari/Matteo Guarise, third-placed Rebecca Ghilardi/Filippo Ambrosini
Hungary's Maria Pavlova and Alexei Sviatchenko, the first team to go in the final group, thought they had done enough to take the lead with a career-best free skate.
But while their elements scored higher than Ghilardi and Ambrosini, a relatively low program component mark saw them take third on the day (128.73) but fourth overall (194.02).
Germany's Grand Prix Final champions Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin, second overnight, missed out on the podium after a fall on a throw triple Salchow and an aborted lasso lift.
Their 121.06 in the free skate gave them a total of 190.69 which was only good enough for fifth place overall.
Italy's reigning champions Sara Conti and Niccolò Macii were unable to bounce back sufficiently from their seventh place in the short program.
Despite a solid free skate, last month's Grand Prix Final runners-up only scored 125.73 for a total of 187.25 and sixth place overall.
Schedule and timings for 2024 European Figure Skating Championships
All times local Eastern European Time (UTC +2 hours) and subject to change
Friday 12 January
- 12:00–16:57 – Rhythm dance
- 18:00–21:52 – Free skating men followed by victory ceremony
Saturday 13 January
- 13:00–16:52 – Free skating women followed by victory ceremony
- 18:30–21:50 – Free dance followed by victory ceremony
Sunday 14 January
- 15:30–18:00 – Exhibition gala
Where to watch European Figure Skating Championships 2024
The ISU YouTube channel will carry a live stream of all sessions from Kaunas, subject to territorial restrictions.
In Europe, the competition will be available to watch on Eurosport and some national broadcasters, while NBC holds the rights in the United States – check local listings and Peacock for more information.
Australian fans can watch on SBS On Demand.