Almost flawless free skate How Lukas Britschgi became European figure skating champion

SDA

1.2.2025 - 21:10

Lukas Britschgi beaming with the gold medal
Lukas Britschgi beaming with the gold medal
Keystone

Lukas Britschgi sensationally wins the gold medal at the European Figure Skating Championships in Tallinn. This is despite the fact that the 26-year-old from Schaffhausen only came 8th after the short program.

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Britschgi, who says of himself that he is not a talent, skated an almost flawless free skate. At the beginning of his program, he performed two clean quadruple toeloops, the first of which he combined with a double toeloop. The two triple Axel jumps were also flawless. Only on the last jump, the triple flip, did he show a little uncertainty. His reward was 184.19 points, which was 3.51 points better than his own best freestyle score of 6th place at last year's World Championships. He was clearly the best in the second part of the competition.

Thanks to this fantastic performance, Britschgi overtook all seven skaters ahead of him after the short program and secured his second European Championship medal after bronze in 2023. A year ago, he dropped from 2nd to 5th place in the free skate.

With a total of 267.09 points, Britschgi distanced second-placed Italian Nikolaj Memola, who was on the European Championship podium for the first time, by 4.48 points. France's Adam Siao Him Fa (257.99), who was not at his best after the short program, dropped back to third place and missed out on becoming European champion for the third time in a row.

"The emotions are overwhelming, I have to deal with that now," Britschgi told SRF after his triumph. "I had nothing to lose and was able to go all out. It worked out."

Second Swiss European champion

Before Britschgi, only one Swiss man has won the European Championship title. That was Hans Gerschwiler in 1947. Even two-time world champion Stéphane Lambiel did not manage to climb to the top of the European Championship podium. He won the silver medal three times.

Britschgi's performance is all the more impressive given that he has been struggling with knee problems for a long time - his patellar tendon has been irritated for more than a year. The pain is currently limited, which is why Britschgi was able to train fully again in January for the first time in a year. Previously, he had been able to do around 60 percent of his normal volume.

Despite the less than optimal preparation, Britschgi went into the European Championships with a good feeling. However, he also said: "I'm not expecting a medal." The conditions took some of the pressure off him mentally, and after finishing 8th after the short program, he really had nothing more to lose. "The only option was to attack and make every jump clean," said Britschgi, who trains in Oberstdorf under successful coach Michael Huth. "I'm proud of myself, the team and everyone who supported me."

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