World record and the first three places of Russians: Boykova and Kozlovsky won a short program among couples at the European Championship in Graz

Paired competitions at the European Championships could even be called a little less interesting before the start of them than the last Russian Championship. Nevertheless, at least four world-class couples performed in Krasnoyarsk, and only three Russian duets without Anastasia Mishina and Alexander Galliamov were able to come to Graz.

But the intrigue of the competition was added by the fact that not a single Russian pair this season, including those who got into the national team, managed to become invincible. Failures also occurred to Yevgeny Tarasov with Vladimir Morozov, and Anastasia Boykov with Dmitry Kozlovsky, and Daria Pavlyuchenko with Denis Khodykin. The European Championship could well become a stumbling block for one of them, especially since there were certain signals. So, the Russian champions Boykova and Kozlovsky in the first training session did not at all correspond to their status and were mistaken a lot. Of course, far-reaching conclusions from this should not be done, but the fans could be a little embarrassed.

Tarasova and Morozov opened the strongest workout in which. In addition to Russian duets, the Italians were Nicole Della Monica and Matteo Guarise. The vice-champions of Europe started the performance under the Bolero with a familiarly beautiful twist and perfect performance of a triple sheepskin coat. The couple did not forget about everything that Marina Zueva taught her in the USA - the skaters skated as a whole.

Until an unexpected breakdown occurred - at the support of Morozov, his knee was bent, he began to lose his balance and almost dropped his partner. Falls were avoided, but the most expensive element of the program crumbled. The emotions the couple performed immediately disappeared, and she barely rolled the rest of the program. Instead of gaining more than 80 points for the first time in a season, Tarasova and Morozov limited themselves to 73.50 points. At the same time, the Russians still took the lead.

Della Monica and Guarize could take advantage of such a gift of fate and for at least one day climb the intermediate podium, which, according to all forecasts, was to become purely Russian. But the Italians failed to cope with the release of the Rittberger, in addition, the judges lowered their grades for the components. Their result was only enough to secure one more hit in the group of the strongest in the free program.

Pavlyuchenko and Khodykin arrived in Graz already a much more experienced couple than they were at the last European Championship. This was felt in each of their movements, in the confidence with which the skaters approached each element. Performing a twist to the fourth level, the pair captivated the audience with an impeccable ejection of a triple rittberger, from which Pavlyuchenko landed perfectly in music. Due to imperfect rotation, the judges rated the performance of the Russians a little worse than their maximum this season, but they still beat Tarasova and Morozov with a score of 74.92 points.

Closed the competition Boykova and Kozlovsky under the instrumental composition My Way. As soon as the pair stepped on the ice, there was no trace of anxiety due to problems in training. The triple salchow of the skaters turned out as if copied from each other and with an equally long exit. The twist of the fourth level was followed by an incredibly accurate release of a triple flip, for which only one judge dared to put less than four.

The integrity of the image that instills optimism in every fan has not been violated even once, and Boykova and Kozlovsky received a generous reward for this. They broke the Chinese world record of Sui Wenjing and Han Tsun. The champions of Russia scored 82.34 points and beat almost eight points of the closest pursuers.

The free pairs program will take place on January 24 and will also end the competition day. Boykova and Kozlovsky will have every chance to rise to the first from last year’s third step of the podium, and the fight between Tarasova and Morozov and Pavlyuchenko and Khodykin will unfold again. A difference of almost one and a half points between them will not matter if the current vice-champions of Europe no longer experience annoying failures.