Russia has dominated much of the competition at Europeans over the past few years in pairs and—with the exception of the Gabriella Papadakis/Guillaume Cizeron reign—in ice dance. This year, after retirements, breaks, and the ban of Russian skaters due to the war in Ukraine, there will be new European champions crowned in both disciplines. And it’s Italy who is looking to come out on top in Espoo this week.
2023 Europeans pairs and dance predictions
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Dance Top 10 predictions
GOLD Charlene Guignard/Marco Fabbri ITA
SILVER Lilah Fear/Lewis Gibson GBR
BRONZE Juulia Turkkila/Matthias Versluis FIN
4. Evgeniia Lopareva/Geoffrey Brissaud FRA
5. Natalie Taschlerova/Filip Taschler CZE
6. Allison Reed/Saulius Ambrulevicius LTU
7. Loicia Demougeot/Theo le Mercier FRA
8. Jennifer Janse van Rensburg/Benjamin Steffan GER
9. Maria Kazakova/Georgy Reviya GEO
10. Mariia Ignateva/Danijil Leonyidovics Szemko HUN
After two bronze medal finishes over the past three Europeans, the time is now for Charlene Guignard/Marco Fabbri to get to the top of the podium. But much like at the Grand Prix Final, their closest European competitors will be Lilah Fear/Lewis Gibson, who are looking for their first European medal. Those two teams will finish one-two in either order, and the bronze could be quite the battle, and it could be home ice advantage that will get Juulia Turkkila/Matthias Versluis onto the podium in Espoo, 28 years after Finnish legends Susanna Rahkamo/Petri Kokko won the European title in 1995.
Pairs Top 5 predictions
GOLD Sara Conti/Niccolo Macii ITA
SILVER Annika Hocke/Robert Kunkel GER
BRONZE Rebecca Ghilardi/Filippo Ambrosini ITA
4. Alisa Efimova/Ruben Blommaert GER
5. Lucrezia Beccari/Matteo Guarise ITA
It’s truly going to be a Germany-Italy battle for the podium in the pairs event. Both countries bring some solid pairs talent to Europeans this week. But it’s Grand Prix Final bronze medalists Sara Conti/Niccolo Macii who look to be the favorites, both on paper and in consistency, for their first title, and Italy’s first ever European pairs title. Germany will be led by their champions, Annika Hocke/Robert Kunkel, who has looked very strong after COVID took them out of competitions in the fall.
But don’t count out Rebecca Ghilardi/Filippo Ambrosini and Alisa/Efimova/Ruben Blommaert, who have both had some strong results this season. And this competition will see the return of Matteo Guarise, who is back with a new partner, Lucrezia Beccari, after Nicole Della Monica’s retirement.