FIGURE SKATING
Lukas Britschgi leaps to first Swiss Men’s European gold since 1947
01 Feb 2025
Lukas Britschgi (SUI) soared to gold in an unpredictable Men’s Free Skating as the competition wrapped up at the ISU European Figure Skating Championships 2025 in Tallinn (EST) Saturday.
Britschgi climbed from eighth place to first in an eventful competition, giving Switzerland its first gold at the ISU European Championships in 14 years and the first for a Swiss man since 1947. Italy’s Nikolaj Memola moved up from fifth to second to win his first medal at the ISU European Championships. Two-time ISU European Champion and overnight leader Adam Siao Him Fa of France earned the bronze.
Lukas Britschgi stood in eighth place after the Short Program and, as he put it, had nothing to lose. The 2023 ISU European bronze medalist opened his cosmos-themed program to “Lux”, “Deeply” and “Aero” with a quad toe-double toe combination and followed up with another quad toe and six triple jumps and difficult spins. The only glitch came when he stepped out of the triple flip.
Britschgi achieved a new personal best of 184.19 points for the Free Skating to give him a total of 267.09 points overall. Britschgi looked on from the Green Room as the remaining competitors skated and one by one failed to remove him from the top step of the podium. When the final score came up and the Swiss Champion realized that he had won, he could not believe it.
Lukas Britschgi (SUI) leapt from eighth after the Short Program to seize Switzerland's first Men's European Championships gold in 78 years © ISU
“To be honest it wasn’t even a dream of mine to be on the top of the podium,” Britschgi said.
“The same skaters here have the potential to be better than me to be honest. So it came out of nowhere for me personally. I’m just happy.
“It was mentally an easier situation for me - I had not much to lose. I was on the eighth place, my mind said to attack element by element, push each element. I was mentally pretty calm.”
Britschgi is the first Swiss European Figure Skating Champion since Sarah Meier won in 2011 and only the second man to win this title in history after Hans Gerschwiler took gold back in 1947.
“It is a historic moment for figure skating in Switzerland”, the newly crowned champion said.
Performing to “Modigliani” and “Memorial”, Memola put in a career-best performance that was highlighted by a quad Lutz-double toe, another quad Lutz and five clean triples. The Italian lost a few levels on spins and footwork but nevertheless set a new personal best with 177.69 points and moved up to second place on 262.61 points.
Nikolaj Memola (ITA) pulled out a personal best to move up from fifth to second and achieve his goal of a place on the podium © ISU
“I hoped [for a medal], it was the goal,” Memola shared.
“After the Short Program I wasn’t really sure. I saw the marks and the calls from the panel and I knew they were kind of hard so I got on to the ice just trying to skate my best. I knew the content I was bringing was higher than usual I added a quad [Lutz] so I had a goal of doing something.
“I know that I need to improve a couple of things - all the levels were not there. I was trying to do what I’m usually doing in training and I knew it was somehow possible [to get on to the podium].”
Short Program leader Siao Him Fa skated last. He brought his mysterious “Dune” program to the ice and the crowd cheered when he landed his trademark backflip. The Frenchman completed a quad Salchow and three good triples. However, the 2024 ISU World bronze medalist, who came into the championships off the back of an ankle injury, struggled with the quad toe. At 164.87 points, Siao Him Fa ranked third in the Free Skating and dropped to third overall on 257.99 points.
Adam Siao Him Fa (FRA) dropped from first to third in the Free Skating but refused to use his recent ankle injury as an excuse © ISU
“I wouldn’t put the injury as an excuse. I know just four weeks of training is not much and I’m happy about having a medal but somehow I knew I have a lot of work to do to be back in my shape,” Siao Him Fa commented.
“I missed competing. Somehow I just need to back to get used to competing again and I enjoyed to be here.”
While recovering from his injury, Siao Him Fa followed what was going on at the ISU Grand Prix Final and in other competitions.
“I was watching [figure skating] a lot while not skating and watching all skaters was inspiring and motivating for me. I wanted to come back on the ice and wanted everyone of the competitors to do their best and just wanted to do the same.”
Nika Egadze (GEO) slipped from second to fourth at 243.87 points. Three-time European medalist Matteo Rizzo (ITA) finished fifth (241.21 points) while 2022 ISU European bronze medalist Deniss Vasiljevs (LAT) moved up from 12th to sixth place at 239.70 points. Vladimir Samoilov (POL) dropped from third to 10th after some errors.
What and when
The schedule of the ISU European Championships 2025 is as follows:
Wednesday, January 29: Pairs and Women’s Short Programs
Thursday, January 30: Men’s Short Program and Pairs Free Skating
Friday, January 31: Rhythm Dance & Women’s Free Skating
Saturday, February 1: Free Dance & Men’s Free Skating
Sunday, February 2: Exhibition Gala
For more information, full entry lists and results, visit the ISU event page of the ISU European Championships 2025 and the official event website of the Championships. Check out the Facts & Figures for extra information. Follow the discussion on social media using #EuroFigure and #FigureSkating.
Where to watch the ISU European Figure Skating Championships 2025:
The ISU European Figure Skating Championships will be live streamed on the Skating ISU YouTube Channel. Geo-restrictions will apply in markets where TV rights are in place. You will find the full list in the Where to Watch news here.
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ISU website: ISU European Figure Skating Championships 2025
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