Laura Lepistö takes silver in European Figure Skating Championships

Carolina Kostner regains European title

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The ISU European Figure Skating Championships 2010 concluded in Tallinn, Estonia, on Sunday with the Exhibition Gala.
      Last year’s champion Laura Lepistö said that she achieved everything she had planned in advance by taking a silver medal in the women’s individual event, while Italian Carolina Kostner won her third European title.
     
The Finnish figure skater, who lives in Espoo, stressed prior to the event that regaining the championship was not her first priority, but more important was to secure a place in the Olympic Games in Vancouver in February.
      However, none of the top skaters produced an outstanding performance, and if Lepistö had managed to give of her best, she could indeed have retained her crown as the women’s European figure skating champion.
     
The silver was her third medal at the Europeans after taking bronze in 2008 and gold in 2009.
      “It started very well with my triple-triple combination and I felt really good and comfortable. But then came some double jumps and stupid errors on the landings. It could have been better, but I’m genuinely happy with the silver medal”, Lepistö commented.
     
Another Finnish representative Kiira Korpi was the last skater on the ice, having every chance to grasp even the gold medal, as she held the second place after the short programme, just ahead of Lepistö.
      Korpi’s programme started with two successful double jumps, but after making some errors and taking a tumble she slipped from second to fourth and outside the medals.
      Georgian Elene Gedevanisvili, who stood in fourth place following the short programme, eventually earned the bronze by the narrowest of margins. Korpi's disappointment was palpable - she was the bronze medallist in 2007.
Finland’s third representative on the ice in Tallinn Susanna Pöykiö withdrew from the competition on Saturday because of back problems.
      She had not performed very well in the short programme, where she finished 18th, and will not be selected for the Olympics.
      Pöykiö took silver in 2005, becoming the first Finnish woman to take a medal at European level in this sport. She also won the bronze medal in Helsinki last year.
     
Lepistö and Korpi’s success means that they will take up Finland’s allotted places at the Olympic Games in Vancouver in February. Neither has competed at the Olympics before.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Laura Lepistö wins European title in front of ecstatic home audience (26.1.2009)
  Sauli Niinistö scores at opening of European Figure Skating Championships (21.1.2009)
  Joubert regains European title; Nurmenkari 14th (23.1.2009)
  Weekend Sports Round-Up: Pöykiö and Manninen make Finnish sporting history (31.1.2005)

Links:
  Finnish Figure Skating Association
  Laura Lepistö (Wikipedia)
  Kiira Korpi (Wikipedia)
  ISU European Figure Skating Championships 2010

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