SHEFFIELD, England, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Estonia's Niina Petrokina capped a remarkable comeback by claiming her second consecutive European women's figure skating title on Friday just weeks after returning to the ice following Achilles surgery.
The 21-year-old delivered a composed, confident skate to Hans Zimmer's Dune, landing seven triple jumps to score 145.53 points for the free programme and 216.14 overall.
After having surgery on October 9, Petrokina was not able to train her triple jumps until less than two weeks ago.
"I don't know how I do it, but I know I am unstoppable because I love what I do," she said.
"The first (European title) for me was shock. This time I came here to win and show one more time that I can do this because in Estonia some guys told me that it's unreal to win second time, and I just wanted to show that it's real."
Loena Hendrickx of Belgium, world silver and bronze medallist who is making a comeback from ankle surgery, climbed from fifth after the short program to finish second with 191.26.
"I was very relieved when I knew there was still a chance to come back at my level," said Hendrickx, who will compete in her third Olympics next month. "I think the power and the love for skating is just very big, and that's what kept me going."
Lara Naki Gutmann of Italy was third on 186.87. She skated to the soundtrack from Jaws and dozens of appreciative fans hurled stuffed IKEA sharks onto the ice after her programme.
FOURNIER BEAUDRY AND CIZERON LEAD AFTER RHYTHM DANCE
Earlier on Friday, Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron of France stormed to the top of the ice dance leaderboard, a result that underscored the promise of their fast-track partnership ahead of the Olympics.
Skating to Vogue by Madonna, the duo earned 86.93 points in the rhythm dance -- just shy of their second-placed score at last month's Grand Prix Final -- with an electric performance that drew the crowd to its feet.
It was a promising skate three weeks from the Milano Cortina Olympics, where they are expected to challenge Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates for gold, and in only their fourth international competition together since they teamed up in March.
"I feel like every time (we compete) is a new experience," said Cizeron. "And it had been a few years since I had been to the Europeans. Our focus today was just to get in our bubble and enjoy every moment of this together. And we succeeded doing that."
Britain's Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson are in second place on 85.47 points, with their Spice Girls programme. Three-times defending European champions Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri of Italy stand third (84.48).
CIZERON MAKES HEADLINES
Cizeron, the reigning Olympic champion and five-times world champion with previous partner Gabriella Papadakis, made headlines earlier this week when he accused Papadakis of spreading false information about him in a "smear campaign."
Papadakis alleged in her book "So as not to Disappear", released on Thursday, that she was under Cizeron's "control" throughout their career.
In a statement earlier this week he said he had "shown deep respect" for Papadakis throughout their career together. He added that his lawyers had been instructed to demand an immediate halt to what he called defamatory claims.
French media reported that Papadakis had been removed from her commentary role for NBC Sports at the Olympics due to a conflict of interest.
FOURNIER BEAUDRY OVERCOMES KNEE PROBLEM
Fournier Beaudry previously competed for Canada with Nikolaj Sorensen, but obtained her French citizenship in November to pave the way for Olympic eligibility.
She competed with a bandaged knee, having suffered a gash when she fell in free dance at the Grand Prix Final.
"My knee is very good. It's still recovering a little bit from the final but it's going fine," she said.
Fear and Gibson, whose bronze at last year's world championships was the first podium finish for Britain since Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean more than 40 years earlier, soaked up the cheers from the home crowd.
"I was planning for (pressure) coming here; will it feel like a lot of pressure and more overwhelming?" said Fear, who wore a Union Jack dress, her hair in Baby Spice buns.
"It was more just like, 'Okay, what are you nervous about? You have all these people that are here to support and you're representing them.' That's a huge dream come true."
(Reporting by Lori Ewing; Editing by Toby Davis and Ken Ferris)
