Anastasiia Metelkina & Luka Berulava made history for Georgia by winning the first ISU European Championship title in Pair Skating for their country. The Georgians prevailed in what was a dramatic final Free Skating at the ISU European Figure Skating Championships 2026 at the Utilita Arena in Sheffield (GBR) on Thursday. 

Metelkina & Berulava strike gold in Great Britain 

Metelkina & Berulava already had a silver and a bronze medal from the ISU European Championships and this time they completed the set with the gold as they skated off with the first European title in Pair Skating for Georgia. 

Defending champions Minerva Hase & Nikita Volodin of Germany settled for the silver medal while Maria Pavlova & Alexei Sviatchenko earned the bronze, the first medal in their discipline for Hungary since 1957. 

Overnight leaders Metelkina & Berulava started strongly into their routine to “Keeping Me Alive” with a big triple twist and a triple Salchow-double Axel-double Axel jump combination.

The crowd gasped when Metelkina fell on the triple toe but she recovered instantly to hit a beautiful throw triple flip and loop. 

The two-time ISU World Junior Champions impressed as well with their lifts. They waited anxiously for their score and then jumped up for joy: they were first in the Free Skating with 139.80 points and overall winners at 215.76 points. 

Metelkina & Berulava added first place in the Free Skating to their overnight lead to win Georgia's first Pairs European gold © ISU

“We are thrilled to have won the gold tonight,” Berulava said. “It is an amazing day for the Georgian Skating Federation and Georgia.”

“We had silver and bronze at Europeans and now finally we get the gold,” Metelkina noted. 

“We’ll prepare as usual [for the Olympic Games]. The Olympic Games are very important to us. I will not stop until I get the Olympic gold medal. I hope to achieve this together with Luka and that we’ll get the same result at the Olympic Games as at these European Championships.”

Performing to “Memoryhouse” by Max Richter, Hase & Volodin gave an emotional performance that was highlighted by a triple twist, triple Salchow, throw triple Salchow and two level-four lifts. However, Hase fell on the throw triple loop and they struggled with their final lift.

With 129.06 points, the Germans ranked third in the Free Skating but overall remained in second place at 203.87 points. 

Hase & Volodin (GER) overcame a shaky start to secure third place in the Free Skating and the silver medal overall © ISU

“It was a little bit shaky from the beginning and then we had an unfortunate mistake in the throw and the lift that usually never happens,” Hase noted. 

“But we fought till the end, tried to push till the end and we ended with the second place which we are really happy about.

“I’m glad we did this competition to get the nerves under control and it’s a good learning experience. We have a lot of motivation going forward,” she continued.

Pavlova & Sviatchenko produced strong throw jumps as well as triple toe-double Axel-double Axel sequence in their program to “Without You” but lost some points when she stumbled on the triple Salchow. 

With 129.24 points, the Hungarians came second in the Free Skating segment and claimed the bronze with 202.56 points. 

After finishing fourth at the last two ISU European Championships, Pavlova & Sviatchenko (HUN) finally made the podium © ISU

The ISU Grand Prix finalists had come close to getting a European Championships medal before, finishing fourth in 2024 and 2025, so were delighted to have made the podium at last.

“We are very happy for the medal, we finally did it,” Pavlova commented. 

“It took a while but we are very happy. It was though today, we made some mistakes. Hopefully for the Olympic Games we’ll perfect everything and do the best we can.”

It was not only Hungary’s first medal in Pair Skating since 1957 but also the first European Figure Skating medal for the country at all since 2004 when Julia Sebestyen won gold. 

“We feel incredible about earning the medal, for us and for the country. It means a lot to us. We are very proud,” Pavlova shared.

The medalists celebrate their success in Sheffield and look ahead to the Olympic Games next month © ISU

2023 ISU European bronze medalists Annika Hocke & Robert Kunkel (GER) put out an inspiring performance to “I’d Do Anything For Love” to finish fourth at 188.27 points. Oxana Vouillamoz & Tom Bouvart (SUI) placed fifth on 183.31 points, securing the best result for a Swiss Pairs Skating team in decades.

Find more comments of the skaters and the press conference highlights on the ISU event website in the “For Media” section. For more information also see the Facts & Figures published on the ISU event website. 

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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