MADRID, Jan. 21 (SportsFinding) –
The Austrian city of Graz will host from this Wednesday and until Sunday the European Figure Skating Championships, an appointment to which Spain goes with nine skaters, but without Javier Fernández, whose successful hole will now try to be occupied in the best possible way by Ice Dance couples.
The Madrid is looking for an heir to the continental throne that he occupied with 'iron hand' in the last seven editions. Last year's conquest in Minsk was his international farewell, leaving something orphan to a sport that has experienced its explosion in Spain thanks to its figure.
In fact, with Héctor Alonso injured, in the Spanish delegation there will finally be no representative for the men's individual competition, while in the women's one, Valentina Matos will try to progress and skate for the first time the Long Program.
Therefore, the great tricks are now the Ice Dance duos, a modality in which Spain goes with its two best partners, those formed by Kirill Khaliavin and Sara Hurtado, bronze in the Rostelecom Cup, and by Adrià Díaz and Olivia Smart, current champions of Spain.
Both will seek to get as close as possible to the 'Top 5' after the last edition finished in seventh and eighth position, five and nine points respectively from that place. In addition, to obtain 13 points between both couples (with a sixth and seventh position, for example), Spain would get three places for the European meeting next year.
There is also good news in the discipline for Couples, where the Spanish delegation will compete for the first time in its history with two duos. Laura Maeztu finished seventh in 2019 with Aritz Maestu, but after the goodbye of this, she will have the difficulty of repeating or improving with her new partner, Ton Consul. Together with them, debutants Dorota Broda and Pedro Betegón.