by Matteo Morelli | Feature image by Yoriko Suzuki

The 2025 European Championships returned to Tallinn, Estonia, after last being hosted there in 2022. The event was characterized by a lot of movement from the rhythm dance to free dance and many teams earning new personal bests, demonstrating how European ice dance is growing fast.

Italy’s Charlene Guignard & Marco Fabbri won a third consecutive title, an historic and important result that showcases the consistency of this experienced team. They were followed by Evgeniia Lopareva & Geoffrey Brissaud of France in second place, earning a medal they didn’t think was possible for them. Closing the podium, Great Britain’s Lilah Fear & Lewis Gibson added a third European medal to their collection, confirming their position of leadership on the continent.

Before diving into the detailed results, it is important to mention that the lives lost from the tragedy of the American Airlines Flight 5342 were in everyone’s mind at this event. Many skaters and teams expressed their sadness, and as a community we gathered to mourn and support each other in such difficult times.

Event Recap

Charlene Guignard & Marco Fabbri continue to make history for Italy, winning a third consecutive title (their second consecutive win last season was already history making for their country) and reaching a total of five continental medals, figure only achieved before by Anna Cappellini & Luca Lanotte.

Their rhythm dance allowed them to take the lead with 84.23 points, providing a margin of almost two points from second place.

“Not everything was really perfect today, but overall it was a good performance for us,” Fabbri shared. “I was probably a little bit stiff in my legs at the beginning, so the twizzles were not perfect and then I recovered from that and from the second element of the rhythm dance it was much better.”

They shared that they made improvements to their robot-themed free dance, which worked well in securing their lead with 127.89 points, almost equalling their season best, and a total of 212.12 points.

“At the beginning of the season, we tried too much to move like robots, and that was too stiff for figure skating,” Fabbri said. “It has been a big challenge for us to keep this choreography and at the same time keep our knees soft, but now I think we have found that balance.”

This third consecutive win, which has a very important meaning for them, is also the result of a different approach entering the event.

“This time, we enjoy the competition more,” Guignard shared. “I think our first win in Finland was the worst, we were stressed, and the next year was a bit better but now we enjoyed our performance.”

Despite of that and a six-point lead, they didn’t want to forget that a competition is a competition, and that one can never be too relaxed.

“We always feel the pressure, it is the Europeans and it is not the easiest competition,” Fabbri reflected on. “The level was very high here, and even with these scores, that are pretty good for us, we felt pressure.”

Evgeniia Lopareva & Geoffrey Brissaud of France achieved a very important result by finishing on the second step of the podium, exceeding the expectations they set before entering the event.

Their rhythm dance scored 82.75 points, a new personal best for them, sending a message that they were serious about a podium finish.

“We were hoping for a high score, we felt that we did a clean performance and the rest was up to the judges and I am glad that they liked our performance,” Lopareva said.

This team is enjoying a successful season, with a first Grand Prix medal and Grand Prix Final attendance.

“We improved a lot this season, we worked hard on the quality of what we do and step by step we grow and we continue in this way,” Brissaud shared.

Their original free dance was delivered with confidence, allowing them to earn 124.01 points and a total of 206.76 points, with new personal best across the board.

“It is a surprise to finish second, we worked for the medal this year but to get the second (place) is amazing, we were not expecting that and we are happy,” Brissaud said.

They are now aiming to remain focussed for the rest of the season, continuing to grow as a team.

“Before going to the free dance today, we said to each other that no matter what the result will be, it will not change anything in our process and after we will go back to our ice rink and we are going to keep working hard,” Lopareva shared.

Great Britain’s Lilah Fear & Lewis Gibson added a bronze medal to their previous two silver medals from the continental championships, continuing to show that they are a top team in the fight for the highest spots available.

They started the competition with a third place after the rhythm dance and a score of 81.57 points.

“I think there was a lot we were proud of and also we left a lot of points on the table but it makes us hungry for tomorrow, we want to go out there, connect with the crowd and entertain,” Fear shared.

“I think today we were happy with the performance,” Gibson added. “Of course, there were a lot of mistakes here and there throughout the performance but the energy we gave rewarded us and we are very happy with that.”

Their free dance earned 124.45 points, confirming their third place with a total of 206.02 points overall.

“We were really over the moon with our skate today and especially the comeback from yesterday and how we geared up mentally and really went for it,” Fear shared. “That is the feeling that lasts for us and we are going to take forward, but also all the feedback will be fuel and motivation for Worlds.”

Next season, the European Championships will be held in Sheffield, with both Fear and Gibson looking forward to a competition in front of their home crowds.

“We cannot wait and we also hope to encourage the next generation to get involved in this sport when they see it first-hand,” Fear shared.

Finland’s Juulia Turkkila & Matthias Versluis were impeccable in their programmes at this European tournament. They exceeded their personal best by several points, going past the 200 mark for the first time in their career.

After winning a bronze medal at the European Championships two years ago, followed by a sixth-place finish last season, this season they showed that they are a force to be reckoned with, ending in fourth place and missing a podium finish by just 0.33 points. Their tango was classy, sophisticated, picture perfect in almost every element.

Pushing the bar and also continuing to improve is the other Finnish team of Yuka Orihara and Juho Pirinen. They exceeded their personal bests in all segments, ending in seventh place but with the sixth best free dance.

In their second year together, Olivia Smart & Tim Dieck of Spain competed at their first Europeans together, ending in fifth place and one-point shy from breaking the 200 points mark for the first time. They were incredibly happy with their achievement, and are keen to continue growing as a team and allow Spain to gain more spots at competitions.

Still treasuring the incredible feelings from last year’s bronze medal in Lithuania, Allison Reed & Saulius Ambrulevičius ended in sixth place, earning new season bests even if not entirely satisfied with their delivery. This was Reed’s first Europeans as a Lithuanian citizen, having obtained her nationality in November last year.

Both Czech teams had some mistakes that they had to pay the price for: Natálie Taschlerová & Filip Taschler managed to move from eleventh in the rhythm dance to tenth overall, while Kateřina Mrázková & Daniel Mrázek ended in twelfth place. Both teams were hoping for more, but we are sure that with the World Championships being held in the Czech Republic in 2026, they will find the drive to show their home country what they are capable of.

James Hernandez, suffering from food poisoning, missed the free dance practice but still managed to compete with British partner Phebe Bekker, with both entertaining with their James Bond free and ending in thirteenth place.

Israel’s Alexei Kiliakov was involved in an accident at practice that resulted in him being taken to the hospital for a check. Luckily, he and partner Elizabeth Tkachenko were back at the rink the day after, cheering and supporting team mates and friends.

On top of those already mentioned, this event had a lot of new personal best across the board, including: France’s Loicia Demougeot & Theo Le Mercier (rhythm dance); Germany’s Jennifer Janse van Rensburg & Benjamis Steffan (overall); Hungary’s Mariia Ignateva & Danijil Szemko (free); Italy’s Victoria Manni & Carlo Roethlisberger (free); Lithuania’s Paulina Ramanauskaitė & Deividas Kizala (free and total).

History was also made for Romania, with Emilia Monika Ziobrowska & Shiloh Douglas Judd becoming the first ever Romanian team to access the European Championships.