Figure skating: Poland’s Kurakova finishes fifth in European championships

Poland’s Ekaterina Kurakova on Saturday claimed fifth place in the women’s singles event at the figure skating European Championships in Tallinn, Estonia, a best-ever finish for a Polish female figure skater. 

Poland's Ekaterina Kurakova performs in the women's free skate at the European Figure Skating Championships in Tallinn, Estonia, on Saturday.

PAP/EPA/Toms Kalnins

The medals were scooped by a trio of Russian competitors, Kamila Valieva, Anna Shcherbakova and Alexandra Trusova, with Belgium’s Loena Hendrickx coming fourth, the state PAP news agency reported.

Poland’s Kurakova finished fifth overall, having outperformed Hendrickx in Saturday’s free skate. 

The Moscow-born, 19-year-old Kurakova thus became the highest-placed Polish female solo figure skater in the history of the European championships, bettering the seventh-place finishes achieved by Zuzanna Szwed and Anna Rechnio in the 1990’s.  

Kurakova is now set to represent Poland at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, which take place between February 4 and 20. 

The European championships in Tallinn, which ended on Saturday, were dominated by Russian figure skaters, who won every event, claiming all but three of the medals, PAP reported. 

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Source: PAP