Metelkina and Berulava win historic European gold
2026 European Figure Skating Championships: Pairs’ Figure Skating
Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava made history after becoming the first Pairs’ team from Georgia to win a European title. Germany’s Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin placed second for the silver, while Maria Pavlova and Alexei Sviatchenko took the bronze—the first time a Hungarian Pair’s team has made the European podium since 1957.
Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii of Italy withdrew due to injury, while Armenia’s Karina Akopova and Nikita Rakhmanin were unable to participate due to passport issues.
Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava
Metelkina and Berulava gave a strong short program to Boléro. The two-time Junior World champions were near solid, producing good side-by-side triple Salchows. The triple twist, death spiral, combo spin, lift, and steps were all graded a level four with positive grades of execution (GOE). The only error came when Metelkina fought for the throw triple flip, turning out the landing. They placed first with 75.96 points heading into the free skate.
“We feel good today, it was okay,” said Berulava. “We arrived here yesterday late in the evening (there was a very small visa issue that prevented them from arriving earlier). We headed right away to the rink. For me, this was okay.”
“This really threw me a little bit off because I am someone who really needs a routine, needs to know how things are going, so it gave me a little bit of anxiety,” added Metelkina. “So, I had really a weird feeling all day today. It was a little bit different for me than usual.”
The two-time and current Grand Prix Final bronze medalists produced a dynamic free skate with two level-four lifts, spin and death spiral. Metelkina slightly underrotated the second jump in the triple Salchow-double Axel-double Axel sequence and later fell on the triple toes. But the throw triple flip and throw triple loop were solid. They received 139.80 points for their routine to “Le discours d’Arthur” and “Keeping Me Alive,” placing first in this segment and overall (215.76).
“We are crazy happy to have won the European championships!” said Metelkina. “We’ve had the bronze, the silver, and now we finally got the gold medal. We couldn’t be happier right now!”
“Right now, the situation is very interesting,” he said of the upcoming Olympics. “It’s fascinating because there’s not a clear leader. There are six top teams and all together, and everyone is aiming for the gold medal. Each of us, each athlete, we all have the same goal. I think all the teams are ready and very well prepared and it’s going to be a very exciting competition!”
“The Olympic Games are very important to us,” added Metelkina. “I will not stop until I get the Olympic gold medal. I hope to achieve this together with Luka and that we’ll get the same result at the Olympic Games as at these European Championships.”
Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin
The defending champions placed second (74.81) in the short program with their sophisticated routine to “El Abrazo.” Hase put a hand down on the side-by-side triple Salchows, a costly mistake, but the opening triple twist was solid, earning a level four. They quickly rebounded to show a strong throw triple loop while earning a level four on the lift, death spiral and footwork.
“I would say today we were a bit shaky, shaky legs,” said Hase. “Because of that, I’m pretty pleased with how we skated this program until the end. We kept it together very well and didn’t lose too much. Today was an improvement from the Grand Prix Final, so it’s a step up. We don’t really think about being defending champions here. That’s not really in our head. But every competition has different conditions. For example, the backstage here is very cold. There’s just some small little things that influence how you feel on the ice.”
The 2025 World silver medalists fought through their poetic free skate to Memoryhouse, making several costly mistakes. They opened with a good level-four triple twist, but then Volodin turned out the landing of the first jump in the triple toe-double Axel-double Axel sequence, falling on the final jump. Hase also took a tumble on the throw triple loop. The side-by-side triple Salchows and throw triple Salchow were clean and they earned a level four on two lifts, but Volodin lost his footing during the final lift and Hase fell out of the exit. The placed third in the free skate but managed to maintain second place overall (129.06 / 203.87).
“After the performance, the support was amazing!” said Hase. “How loud they still got! Even though we didn’t skate our best, we appreciated that a lot. It also made everything a little bit better, a little bit less heavy, because we could still enjoy the moment because the people enjoyed it a little bit with us. So, I was happy for the people, for the crowd, and this gives us a lot of motivation.”
“We are not quite happy about our skate, and I think everyone knows that,” she added. “We are happy that we fought until the end and we pushed until the end. It was not the performance we hoped for, but we could still save the silver medal, which is a nice thing. We can still be happy about. I think now we got a lot of motivation and energy to go back to practice. And in three weeks, everything will hopefully come into place, and we can hopefully show our full potential.”
At the Olympics, Hase feels the best-case scenario would be that everyone skates clean and then it’s up to the judges.
“I think it’s especially for the public going to be a really interesting competition and for us as well,” she said. “It’s going to get down to who has the best nerves in both programs and who’s going to be the most clean. We’re all very strong teams. I think the past years of the Olympics, it was never like this, such a range of teams that can make the podium. So, we will put in all the work in the next three weeks and train as hard as possible.”
Maria Pavlova and Alexei Sviatchenko
Pavlova and Sviatchenko gave a confident short program to Michael Jackson’s “Earth Song,” placing third with a new personal best of 73.32 points. They landed a throw triple Lutz and side-by-side triple toes. However, the group 5 reverse lift was only graded a level three while the death spiral was a level two. The triple twist, footwork, and spin were all graded a level four, and all elements received positive GOES.
“It feels amazing!” said Pavlova of their performance. “This season, we are confident in ourselves and trust the process. It felt amazing throughout the whole program.”
The skater added that training was going well until she became ill for a week.
“I had a fever and I couldn’t skate,” she said. “But then one and a half weeks ago, we came back on and prepared really well and hard. Also, the work that we did throughout the season helped us.”
The 2025 NHK Trophy silver medalists skated an evocative free skate to “Without You” which included a level-four triple twist and a side-by-side triple toe-double Axel-double Axel sequence. Pavlova landed a very good throw triple flip, but underrotated and stepped out of the side-by-side triple Salchows. The throw triple loop was also clean, and they picked up a level four on two lifts, placing second in the free skate with 129.24 points. With a total score of 202.56, they placed a close third behind the Germans.
“The skate today was tough. It was very tough, but we pulled it through with some mistakes,” Pavlova pointed out. “But overall, we’re happy, and we know where to go from here and what we have to work for.”
Pavlova said they were both happy and grateful with the medal which means a lot to them, their coaches, country, and federation.
“It’s been a long time since Pairs’ for Hungary earned a medal,” she noted. “So, I think it’s a big achievement for us and for the country. It’s amazing feeling!”
The team will explore Sheffield before departing to Hungary where they will train for week.
“Then we’re going to go back home and start preparing for the Olympics.” said Pavlova. “At the Olympics, we’re attending the opening and then we’re going to go for a week to a camp in Switzerland with all of our teams.”
Annika Hocke and Robert Kunkel
Annika Hocke and Robert Kunkel of Germany showed a level-three triple twist, throw triple flip and a level-four lift in their short program to “Hold My Hand” from Top Gun: Maverick. But the 2023 European bronze medalists left points on the table when Hocke put a hand down on the side-by-side triple Salchows. They finished fourth in this segment with 65.47 points.
“I think, like everyone noticed, we really had a difficult last season,” said Hocke when asked about finding joy in competition again. “We had the feeling that we were on the right way, but still it didn’t work as we planned during the competition. And then, even though we love competition, it’s not that much fun and it’s mentally exhausting. So, our first goal for this season was to find this enjoyment for us again. And we did!”
The two-time Grand Prix medalists delivered a bold and expressive free skate to “I’d Do Anything for Love” by Meatloaf, placing fourth in this segment with a season’s best of 122.80. Both skaters struggled a bit on the side-by-side double Axel-single Axel-double Axel sequence, and Hocke put a foot down on the throw triple loop. However, the throw triple flip was solid, and they earned a level four on all three lifts and the spin. They placed fourth overall with 188.27 points.
“I think we were just so happy to finally skate good at Europeans again,” said Hocke. “Of course we can do better. The mistake on the loop was a stupid mistake, but it was so important for us emotionally on a big stage to finally have a good outing again and to be able really to enjoy the crowd. And we felt like that they were going with us exactly how we always imagined it. And of course, you think that this can happen, but you never know how the public will receive a program.”
Hocke will be making her second appearance at the Olympics after eight years when she competed with previous partner Ruben Blommaert in 2018.
“It was so long, but also so short. It feels like a different life,” she reflected. “And this morning there was a photographer coming to tell me that she cleared her files and was like, ‘Oh my God, Annika, I saw you at the Youth Olympics in 2016.’ It was so long ago. I cannot even remember it. 2016 feels so long ago and 2018 almost feels as long ago. I was skating with my coach. This is how long ago it was.”
“I mean, I was stuck in juniors falling all over, but of course I remember watching her,” said Kunkel. “She was already my training mate, and I saw it. I also saw Bruno (Massot) and Aliona’s (Savchenko) skate—that was a life-changer back in time for me. It’s such an amazing memory!”
They will now train in Berlin to prepare for the Games in Milano as they have better opportunities there to adapt to the conditions they will also have at the Olympic Games.
Oxana Vouillamoz and Tom Bouvart
Oxana Vouillamoz and Tom Bouvart of Switzerland placed sixth (62.78) with their short program to a Michael Jackson medley. The team showed a level-three triple twist, throw triple loop and a level four lift, spin and footwork. The only error came when Vouillamoz feel on the side-by-side triple toes.
“It was good. We like the atmosphere here and it was good to skate the short program here in Sheffield,” said Vouillamoz.
Bouvart said the music was his choice.
“I like Michael Jackson,” he said. “I like dancing, but Jackson is like my ‘God’ and I would like to skate to his music and Oxana said ‘ok, good.'”
The two-time national champions put out a very good free skate to “Clubbed to Death” for a new personal best of 120.53 points. Their routine was highlighted side-by-side triple toes and a double Axel-double Axel sequence. Vouillamoz took a fall on the throw triple loop, but the throw triple Salchow was clean. They also earned a level four on the spin and all three lifts. They placed fifth in this segment, and with a total score of 183.31, moved up to fifth place overall.
“We are feeling really, really happy,” said Bouvart. “We did what we wanted to do and I’m really happy to do this here at the European Championships. It’s a really big motivation for the future.”
The team is also excited for next year as the 2027 European Figure Skating Championships will be hosted in their country.
“We’re super happy at the end. This is why we showed such a big reaction.”
“I’m so excited right now!” said Bouvart. “I feel like I want to go right now and do it, but of course, also we need to work more.”
Rebecca Ghilardi and Filippo Ambrosini of Italy placed sixth (174.31), followed closely by Great Britain’s Anastasia Vaipan-Law and Luke Digby (173.52). Both teams have already secured spots at the upcoming Olympics.
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