Belgium has won five medals in the history of the European Figure Skating Championships—three in the men’s event and two in the pairs’ event. But this week in Espoo, Loena Hendrickx is favored to bring home the first ever European title and medal of any kind in the women’s event. Without the Russian women, who have won 22 of the last 27 medals at Europeans, the door is open for three first-time medalists to come through.
2023 Europeans women predictions
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GOLD Loena Hendrickx BEL - If Hendrickx does what she’s capable of, then the European title is well within her reach. She’s the strongest overall skater in this entire field, but the issues she’s had this season have been in her free skate. The consistency there is going to be necessary for her, though she probably can afford a couple of minor errors given her overall strengths.
SILVER Anastasiia Gubanova GEO - After bronze at John Wilson Trophy, Gubanova had one of the worst showings of her careers two weeks later at GP Espoo. And she returns to Espoo this week for the third time this season—she was also at Finlandia Trophy in October—to shake off some of the issues that she had at her last Grand Prix. She was uncharacteristically flat at that event, but if she’s back to what we’ve come to expect from her, she will be on the podium.
BRONZE Niina Petrokina EST - The surprise of last year’s Europeans and now the two-time Estonian champion, Petrokina has the potential to put Estonia on the map here with a medal finish. She’s got strong basics and big jumps, and if she can find some consistency this week and skate like she did at nationals in her free skate, she has a great shot.
4. Ekaterina Kurakova POL - Fifth at both of her Grand Prix events, Kurakova has been generally consistent this season in both her performances and her scores. She’s coming off a fifth-place finish at World University Games just two weeks ago, and will be looking to earn her first European medal here.
5. Kimmy Repond SUI - After a solid showing on the Junior Grand Prix, Repond took two medals in the fall in the Challenger Series events. And though she took silver at Swiss Nationals, this assignment to Europeans reflected her strong showing this season so far.
6. Nicole Schott GER - After a great end to her last season, where she was a career-high 10th at Worlds, Schott has not been able to continue the momentum that she built last year. She won her seventh German title last month.
7. Olga Mikutina AUT - It’s been an up-and-down season for Mikutina - her consistency just hasn’t been there for her to get her scores where she would like them to be. At her best, she’s top five material here.
8. Janna Jyrkinen FIN - The new Finnish champion makes her Europeans debut at home. And like Gubanova, she will be competing in Espoo for the third time this season.
9. Lara Naki Gutmann ITA - The short program has been the issue for Gutmann historically, and it’s been the case again this season. For her to get into that top 5 at Europeans, she will need to set herself up with a strong short.
10. Eva-Lotta Kiibus EST - After a bronze medal finish at Nebelhorn Trophy, it’s been a rough go for Kiibus, who has just not been able to put together consistent skating.