Figure Skating - ISU Figure Skating European Championships - Sheffield Arena, Sheffield, Britain - January 14, 2026 Georgia's Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava perform during the pairs - short program. Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Boyers
SHEFFIELD, England, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Georgia's Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava seized the spotlight at the European Figure Skating Championships on Wednesday, storming to the top of the pairs short programme with a crisp skate that left the reigning champions trailing.
The double world junior champions scored 75.96 points for their programme to Bolero, powered by side‑by‑side triple Salchows and a throw triple flip in the final international competition for Olympic-bound skaters before the Milano Cortina Games.
Germany's reigning European champions Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin scored 74.81 points for second place heading into Thursday's free programme, losing marks when Fabienne Hase touched a hand down on their side-by-side triple Salchows. Their side-by-side spins were also not synchronised.
Maria Pavlova and Alexei Sviatchenko of Hungary were third with 73.32.
The Georgians' superb skate -- which opened with Metelkina in a handstand while Berulava spun her by the feet -- came despite their late arrival in Sheffield on Tuesday evening due to a delay with their visas.
Their only practice was on Wednesday morning. Metelkina complained about her 0400 GMT wakeup for hair and makeup, while Berulava got up at 0800.
"This is the difference between women and men in figure skating," a laughing Metelkina said, via an interpreter.
World silver medallists Fabienne Hase and Volodin executed a breathtakingly low death spiral, with her head virtually grazing the ice, but they lacked synchronisation in their combination spin.
"It's a little bit sad about the spin, in the practice we always do it perfectly synchronised," Fabienne Hase said. "And then in the competition, I don't know who is fast or slower, but the rhythm is not together anymore.
"But the rest of the elements were solid."
There is a silver lining, they said, to sitting second heading into the free programme, since the skaters are seeded, with the short programme leaders taking the ice last.
"It's just nice to not skate last, to be honest," Fabienne Hase said. "If you skate last, it's always like 25, 30 minutes to wait, so at least a shorter wait time, which is pretty nice, to be honest."
The women's short programme was scheduled for later on Wednesday.
(Reporting by Lori EwingEditing by Christian Radnedge)
