BUDAPEST, January 19 (R-Sport) - Spain's Javier Fernandez held off a strong Russian challenge to retain his European title in Budapest on Friday, nailing a jazzy free program to stake an unequivocal claim for a medal at next month's Sochi Olympics.
To the musical backdrop of the finger-snapping Peter Gunn theme, Fernandez landed three quadruple jumps - albeit two messily - en route to a winning score of 267.11, seven points short of the personal best he set to win gold in Zagreb last year.
Behind him, Sergei Voronov nailed a confident free skate with two quads to score 252.55 for the silver medal. His fellow Russian Konstantin Menshov, who hadn't impressed in the short program, turned it around with a strong free skate; also landing two quads for 237.24 points and bronze.
"It turned out the best skate of my life probably," Menshov told R-Sport. "It was the maximum I've ever done."
Michal Brezina of the Czech Republic was fourth with 236.98, ahead of disappointing Russian Maxim Kovtun.
Those Russian performances, both big personal bests, give the Olympic selectors an almighty headache, with Voronov and Menshov now joining Kovtun and veteran Evgeni Plushenko in looking to claim the one available Russian berth in the men's singles event in Sochi next month.
Choosing which skater to send to Sochi is "a very difficult question," Russian Figure Skating Federation president Alexander Gorshkov said. "There are a lot of opinions. We'll listen to all these opinions at an expert council and take the decision." He added that a final decision would be made Wednesday, a day after Plushenko skates for federation representatives behind closed doors.
Kovtun's short program was a big disappointment in Budapest, and a shaky free skate that saw the 18-year-old bail out of quads to end up fifth on 232.37 points on Saturday may give selectors additional food for thought.
Kovtun, who left the ice visibly distraught, blamed pre-Olympic gossip and politicking over Russia's Sochi selection. "If I go, then I go. I don't care any more," he said of the Olympics.
"If I hadn't had to prove anything to anyone, I'd have gone out there and skated completely differently. But I'm constantly hearing all these conversations around me. Voronov and Menshov go out there and skate calmly, but I go out there knowing that there are people who are pleased by every mistake I make."
Kovtun added he planned to take a break and "relax" following the European championships.
On Friday, Julia Lipnitskaia became the youngest European champion ever at the age of 15; leading a Russian 1-2 over overnight leader Adelina Sotnikova. Defending champion Carolina Kostner of Italy was third.
Italy’s Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte took the victory in the ice dance competition, with Elena Ilinykh and Nikita Katsalapov second for Russia. Penny Coomes and Nicholas Buckland took the bronze, Britain’s first major competition medal since 2011.
On Sunday, Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov look to capture a third-straight European title after breaking their own world record in the short program.
