Tallinn is cold in January. Like, bone-chillingly cold. But inside the Tondiraba Ice Hall this week, the atmosphere for the 2025 European Figure Skating Championships was anything but frozen. It was chaotic. If you’ve followed skating for more than a minute, you know the "post-Olympic slump" usually hits the year before the next Games, but 2025 decided to buck that trend entirely. We saw world-class meltdowns, redemption arcs that felt scripted by Hollywood, and a technical shift that suggests the "quad revolution" might be taking a back seat to something much more interesting: actual skating skills.
Honestly, the energy was weirdly electric. With the 2026 Milano-Cortina Olympics looming on the horizon, every skater in Estonia wasn't just fighting for a medal; they were fighting for relevance.
The Men’s Event Was Total Carnage
Let’s talk about Adam Siao Him Fa. The Frenchman is basically a walking highlight reel at this point. Coming into the 2025 European Figure Skating Championships, he was the two-time defending champion, and the pressure was visibly weighing on him during the short program. He looked tight. It wasn't the usual effortless Adam we’ve seen. But then the free skate happened.
He landed the backflip again. Yes, the illegal one—well, it was illegal until the ISU finally wised up and legalized it recently. Seeing him execute that with such disdain for gravity while hitting a quadruple Lutz-triple toe combination is just... it's a lot to process. He took the gold, but it wasn't a runaway.
Matteo Rizzo and Aleksandr Selevko were breathing down his neck. Selevko, skating on home ice, had the entire arena shaking. It’s rare to see an Estonian skater on a major podium, and the local fans treated him like a rockstar. He didn't have the quadruple firepower of the top-tier guys, but his components—the "artistic" stuff—were through the roof. It’s a reminder that sometimes, just sometimes, the judges still care about deep edges and transitions.
It’s kind of funny how we used to think you needed four quads to win. Now? You need two quads, a perfect triple Axel, and the ability to not look like a robot.
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The Women’s Podium and the "Power Gap"
The absence of Russian skaters continues to redefine what the European podium looks like. For a decade, it was just a sweep. Boring, honestly. Now? It’s a dogfight between Belgium, Switzerland, and Italy.
Loena Hendrickx is the queen of European skating, but 2025 showed she’s human. She’s had some nagging injuries—hip issues mostly—and you could see her grit her teeth through the double Axel at the end of her program. She’s 25 now, which is "old" in this sport, which is frankly ridiculous, but that’s the reality of the judging system. Her "Unicorn" free skate is polarizing. Some people love the club-beat energy; purists hate it. I think it’s exactly what the sport needs to stay alive on TikTok.
Anastasia Gubanova was right there, too. She represents Georgia but trains in Italy, and her consistency is terrifying. She doesn't fall. Like, ever. If Hendrickx is the flash, Gubanova is the wall. Then you have Kimmy Repond from Switzerland. She’s got these incredibly long lines and jumps that look like they’re happening in slow motion.
The depth in the women’s field is finally returning. We aren't seeing triple Axels or quads yet—the technical ceiling has definitely dropped—but the programs feel more "complete." They feel like actual dances rather than just jump-drill sessions.
Ice Dance is Still a Political Maze
If you want drama, go to the ice dance practice sessions. The tension between the top Italian and British teams could be cut with a skate blade.
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Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri are like a fine wine. Or a very expensive watch. They’re precise, they’re Italian, and they’ve been doing this forever. Their rhythm dance to 70s/80s music was a masterclass in "not looking like your parents at a wedding." But the Brits, Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson, are the crowd favorites. They do the Rocky theme. They do Lady Gaga. They bring the house down.
The scoring in ice dance at the 2025 European Figure Skating Championships was, predictably, a mess of levels and technical calls. One judge sees a Level 4 twizzle; another sees a Level 3. It’s the most subjective corner of the sport, and it drives the fans absolutely insane.
- Guignard/Fabbri: Technical perfection, slightly repetitive.
- Fear/Gibson: Pure entertainment, occasionally messy footwork.
- Lopareva/Brissaud: The dark horses from France who are slowly climbing the ranks.
Honestly, the French team is the one to watch for the Olympics. They have a "cool" factor that the older teams lack. They don't look like they’re trying too hard, which is the hardest thing to pull off in sequins.
Pairs Skating: The Most Dangerous Game
Pairs is hurting. There’s no other way to say it. The number of entries is down, and the level of risk is up.
Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin from Germany are the gold standard right now. Their twist—the move where he throws her ten feet in the air and catches her—is massive. It’s scary to watch from the front row. They won, but the real story was the young teams from Italy and Georgia.
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We saw a lot of aborted lifts and messy landings. It’s a discipline in transition. Without the top-tier pairs that used to dominate, everyone is trying to up their technical difficulty too fast, and the results are often painful to watch. But when it works? There is nothing more beautiful than a perfect throw triple loop.
What This Means for the 2026 Olympics
The 2025 European Figure Skating Championships acted as a massive filter. We now know who has the stamina for the Olympic season.
A few things became crystal clear in Tallinn. First, the judges are rewarding maturity. The "Eteri girls" era of 15-year-olds doing quad lutzes is over for now, and the "grown-up" skaters are taking advantage of it. Second, the "Component Score" is actually starting to matter again. You can't just jump your way to gold if you skate like a plank of wood.
Third, the European contingent is going to have a hard time against the Americans and the Japanese in 2026. Aside from Adam Siao Him Fa and maybe Loena Hendrickx, the gap in technical scoring is still wide. The Europeans have the artistry, but they need more "big" jumps to compete for Olympic hardware.
Actionable Takeaways for Skating Fans
If you’re looking to follow the rest of the season or prepare for the World Championships, keep these points in mind:
- Watch the "Levels": In the 2025 European Figure Skating Championships, the difference between gold and silver often came down to Level 3 vs Level 4 on spins and footwork. Pay attention to the technical box in the corner of your screen.
- Monitor Injury Reports: Several top skaters (Hendrickx, Rizzo) are skating through pain. Their performance in January might not reflect their form in March.
- The Backflip Rule: Now that it’s legal, expect more skaters to try it. But remember, it’s only worth the same as a choreographic element. It’s for the crowd, not the points.
- Follow the Italian Surge: Italy is hosting the next Olympics, and their skaters are getting "host country" bumps in their scores. It’s a real thing. Keep an eye on Nikolaj Memola and the Italian pairs teams.
The road to Milano-Cortina 2026 officially started in Tallinn. It wasn't perfect, and it was definitely messy, but that’s why we watch. Figure skating is at its best when it’s unpredictable, and 2025 proved that the sport is in a very strange, very exciting place.