The second half of the 2023-24 figure skating season is now in full swing, which means the first of the ISU Championships are underway. This week, we will see the big event in Europe, which some skaters regard even more highly than the World Championships. There are some exciting matchups in each of the four disciplines—a lightning round preview ahead.
2024 Europeans predictions
Official hashtag: #EuroFigure
MEN Top 10 predictions
GOLD Adam Siao Him Fa FRA
SILVER Lukas Britschgi SUI
BRONZE Matteo Rizzo ITA
4. Nika Egadze GEO
5. Kevin Aymoz FRA
6. Mark Gorodnitsky ISR
7. Vladimir Litvintsev AZE
8. Gabriele Frangipani ITA
9. Deniss Vasiljevs LAT
10. Nikolaj Memola ITA
There are a lot of unknowns in this field. Perhaps the one you can count on the most here is Adam Siao Him Fa, who, with the exception of a couple of errant short programs this season, has been extraordinary. Last year’s bronze medalist, Lukas Britschgi, is looking for more hardware and has also had a very strong season coming in. And then after that is where you wonder what the heck is going to happen.
Matteo Rizzo signaled that Euros will be the end of his season, as he will have surgery for an injury he’s been dealing with this season after this event. Nika Egadze is always a wildcard but has had some strong skates this season. Kevin Aymoz started his season superbly but imploded at both the Grand Prix Final and at French Nationals. If any of them have an off week, someone like a Mark Gorodnitsky or a clean Deniss Vasiljevs could get into that top five. Vasiljevs has been on the European podium before, but he will need to be much more consistent than he’s been so far this season.
PAIRS Top 10 predictions
GOLD Minerva Fabienne Hase/Nikita Volodin GER
SILVER Sara Conti/Niccolo Macii ITA
BRONZE Anastasiia Metelkina/Luka Berulava GEO
4. Rebecca Ghilardi/Filippo Ambrosini ITA
5. Lucrezia Beccari/Matteo Guarise ITA
6. Maria Pavlova/Alexei Sviatchenko HUN
7. Annika Hocke/Robert Kunkel GER
8. Daria Danilova'/Michel Tsiba NED
9. Camille Kovalev/Pavel Kovalev FRA
10. Anastasia Vaipan-Law/Luke Digby GBR
This pairs event is going to be very interesting. Fresh off their Grand Prix Final win, Minerva Hase/Nikita Volodin are absolutely the favorites among this field, but Sara Conti/Niccolo Macii are on the rise. If their free skate at Grand Prix Final were any indication, they are finding the form that took them to the World podium last year.
But perhaps most intriguing is the new pairing of Anastasiia Metelkina/Luka Berulava, who are undefeated this season—except that most of their events were on the junior level. But they’ve impressed enough on the junior level to be among the favorites here, and it wouldn’t even be that much of a surprise if they end up pulling off a major upset for the title.
WOMEN Top 10 predictions
GOLD Loena Hendrickx BEL
SILVER Nina Pinzarrone BEL
BRONZE Kimmy Repond SUI
4. Anastasiia Gubanova GEO
5. Lorine Schild FRA
6. Ekaterina Kurakova POL
7. Nella Pelkonen FIN
8. Sarina Joos ITA
9. Livia Kaiser SUI
10. Josefin Taljegard SWE
Of all the disciplines, the women’s event is probably the one where there’s a clear delineation between the very top set of skaters and everyone else. Could there be a historic 1-2 for Belgium here? Loena Hendrickx and Nina Pinzaronne have both been top scorers this season, and they were both at the Grand Prix Final (2nd for Hendrickx; 4th for Pinzaronne). Kimmy Repond is returning after injury too her out of much of the fall, and she’s looking solid in practice. Anastasia Gubanova won this event last year and could get back on the podium again. The top four at this point looks to be pretty much a battle among these four.
DANCE Top 10 predictions
GOLD Charlene Guignard/Marco Fabbri ITA
SILVER Lilah Fear/Lewis Gibson GBR
BRONZE Allison Reed/Saulius Ambrulevicius LTU
4. Juulia Turkkila/Matthias Versluis FIN
5. Evgeniia Lopareva/Geoffrey Brissaud FRA
6. Natalie Taschlerova/Filip Taschler CZE
7. Diana Davis/Gleb Smolkin GEO
8. Loicia Demougeot/Theo le Mercier FRA
9. Katerina Mrazkova/Daniel Mrazek CZE
10. Jennifer Janse van Rensburg/Benjamin Steffan GER
The battle for European dance supremacy continues this season, with Charlene Guignard/Marco Fabbri and Lilah Fear/Lewis Gibson once again facing each other. Fear/Gibson won in a close race at NHK Trophy, only for Guignard/Fabbri to have a decisive victory between the two at Grand Prix Final. Bronze looks to be a fight between Allison Reed/Saulius Ambrulevicius and Juulia Turkkila/Matthias Versluis. Turkkila/Versluis are the reigning bronze medalists, but Reed/Ambrulevicius have made greater improvements from last season between the two.