Anastasiia Metelkina & Luka Berulava of Georgia skated to the lead as the ISU European Figure Skating Championships 2026 kicked off in Sheffield, Great Britain, Wednesday with an exciting Pairs Short Program at the Utility Arena. 

Metelkina & Berulava edge out reigning champions

Georgia’s Anastasiia Metelkina & Luka Berulava clinched the lead in the Pairs Short Program, edging reigning ISU European Champions Minerva Hase & Nikita Volodin of Germany into second. Sitting in third, Maria Pavlova & Alexei Sviatchenko of Hungary kept their chances of a medal alive. 

Metelkina & Berulava opened their fierce Bolero with an excellent side-by-side triple Salchow and a level-four triple twist. The two-time ISU European medalists picked up a level four for the other elements as well. However, the throw triple flip was somewhat wobbly. Metelkina & Berulava scored 75.96 points. 

 Anastasiia Metelkina & Luka Berulava (GEO) only arrived in the UK on Tuesday night but lead the Pairs after a fierce Bolero © ISU

“We are all in all happy with the skate,” Metelkina said. “We made a mistake on the throw but after speaking to the coach I think we will fix it by tomorrow and everything will be great,” she added.

“It was not a bad skate, considering that we only arrived last night,” Berulava said. “The visa office was closed over the New Year’s holidays and we picked up the visa on the 13th of January in the morning, got our tickets and came here.”

Performing a passionate Tango, Hase & Volodin produced a high triple twist, throw triple loop and difficult lift. The only glitch came when Hase touched down on the triple Salchow. The two-time ISU World medalists picked up 74.81 points.

Reigning European Champions Minerva Hase & Nikita Volodin (GER) are in second place following a passionate Tango © ISU

“I’m happy with some parts of the program, for example we got a level four for the twist,” Hase analyzed. 

“There was a little stumble on the triple Salchow and the spin was not in synch. We bumped into the boards before the throw loop, but luckily the throw was not affected. 

“We are actually glad not to skate last [in the Free Skating]. We want to have a strong Free Skating and everything is still open,” she continued.

“With the Short Program, you can’t win but you can lose,” Volodin agreed. 

“Tomorrow in the Free Skating we want it to give our best performance, to control all the levels and show the emotions to the audience.”

Pavlova & Sviatchenko impressed with a strong skate to “Earth Song” that was highlighted by a triple toe loop and throw triple flip to set a new personal best of 73.32 points. 

“It was amazing, the crowd was cheering us on, it was an incredible feeling,” Pavlova shared. 

Maria Pavlova & Alexei Sviatchenko (HUN) hope to keep their place on the podium after late drama last year saw them miss a medal © ISU

The Hungarian national champions have high hopes of making the podium after coming close a year ago when they slipped from third to fourth place, missing the bronze by less than half a point.

“Last season we will not forget, it was a downfall,” Pavlova commented. 

“This season we are not remembering what happened but we come with more power and motivation to do our best. We want to skate our best and enjoy and see what happens after that.”

2023 ISU European bronze medalists Annika Hocke & Robert Kunkel (GER) came fourth with a solid performance on 65.47 points. 

To the delight of the home crowd, Anastasia Vaipan-Law & Luke Digby (GBR) put in a strong performance to come fifth with a season’s best of 63.98 points. Two-time ISU European medalists Rebecca Ghilardi & Filippo Ambrosini (ITA) are currently ranked sixth at 59.40 points. 

Karina Akopova & Nikita Rakhmanin (ARM) have withdrawn due to administrative issues. 

Find more comments of the skaters and the press conference highlights on the ISU event website in the “For Media” section.

What & When

The schedule of the ISU European Figure Skating Championships 2026 is as follows:

Wednesday, January 14: Pairs & Women’s Short Programs
Thursday, January 15: Men’s Short Program & Pairs Free Skating
Friday, January 16: Rhythm Dance, Women’s Free Skating
Saturday, January 17: Men’s Free Skating & Free Dance
Sunday, January 18: Exhibition Gala
 

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