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Russia dominates European Figure Skating
Sunday February 13 2011 11:33 AM
Figure Skating has been a part of EYOWF since the very beginning in 1993. Young athletes compete in individual and pair races and the competition in this sport is particularly tough. Kateřina Beránková, winner of the bronze medal from EYOWF 1993 in the individual race, gave us further details. She competed in pairs with Otto Dlabola, and together they became six-time national champions, finishing 5th in the 2002 European Championship and in 1998 and 2002 they competed at the Winter Olympic Games.
“Regarding the international youth level, Russia undoubtedly dominates. It has a large number of figure skaters to choose from, it ranks number one and it always will. Of course, there was a weaker period, but now the tide is turning. There are many talented girls, but they are not old enough to qualify for EYOWF,” says Beránková. What gives weight to her words is the fact that Russia has won the most medals in the history of EYOWF.
According to Kateřina Beránková, athletes from Finland and Spain are getting much better now. On the other hand, Germany, which used to be a Figure Skating superpower, has no successful athletes these days. This decline has occurred in other European countries as well. “The French have no quality figure skaters and it is the same with the Ukraine. There used to be individuals, pair skaters and ice dancers, but that is all history,” Beránková summarises the regression.
A similar situation exists in the Czech Republic. “We really have to catch up. Figure Skating in the Czech Republic is not comparable to countries such as Japan or the USA. If we did not have Michal Březina and Tomáš Verner, there would be no one to represent the Czech Republic. What is more, we have no girls that could compete with the world’s elite in the junior category. There are many Figure Skating clubs in the Czech Republic and the base is quite numerous, but still, we cannot compare to China or other countries. The only junior talent is Petr Coufal, who might actually succeed at EYOWF,” commented Beránková.
Medal overview from EYOWF Figure Skating competitions:
| Rank |
Country |
Gold |
Silver |
Bronze |
| 1 |
Russia |
12 |
2 |
3 |
| 2 |
France |
1 |
5 |
4 |
| 3 |
Ukraine |
|
5 |
2 |
| 4 |
Hungary |
2 |
|
3 |
| 5 |
Germany |
1 |
1 |
2 |
| 6 |
Sweden |
1 |
3 |
|
| 7 |
Italy |
1 |
1 |
1 |
| 8 |
Switzerland |
|
2 |
1 |
| 9 |
Czech Republic |
|
|
2 |
| 10 |
Poland |
1 |
1 |
|
| 11 |
Austria |
1 |
1 |
|
| 12 |
Spain |
1 |
|
|
| 13 |
Estonia |
1 |
|
|
| 14 |
Georgia |
|
1 |
|
| 15 |
Finland |
|
|
1 |
| 16 |
Israel |
|
|
1 |
| 17 |
Norway |
|
|
1 |
| 18 |
Great Britain |
|
|
1 |
Medals won for the Czech Republic: Kateřina Beránková in 1993 and Gabriela Kubová with Petr Seknička in 2009 in ice dancing.
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