Repond ends up in the top 10: Kaiser narrowly misses a European Championship medal

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Figure skater Livia Kaiser (19) can certainly dream of a European Championship medal after her performance. The woman from Thurgau, who was already in fourth place after the short program, showed an almost flawless routine and took a clear lead over the last five runners. With 128.41 points, she improved her best performance in the second part of the competition by 16.66 points. In total she achieved 194.72 points, increasing her personal best by 21.52 points.

However, Thursday’s top 3 shows no nerves. In the end, Kaiser fell 7.57 points short of the bronze medal. Kimmy Repond (17), third at the European Championships a year ago, improved from 8th to 7th place in the free skate. Still, the 17-year-old from Basel revealed some weaknesses on Saturday after her fall in the triple Lutz in the short program. The victory goes to the Belgian Loena Hendrickx.

“I felt great running,” says Kaiser. At her European Championship debut a year ago, she fell from 9th to 18th in the free skate, but this time she can withstand the pressure. Working with a mental coach is paying off. Moreover, the risk of switching freestyles during the season is worth it for her. Initially, her plan was to continue last year’s program, “but that didn’t feel right.”

Repond traveled to Lithuania with the aim of being back on the European Championship podium after winning the bronze medal a year ago. However, the 17-year-old from Basel revealed some weaknesses on Saturday after her fall in the triple Lutz in the short program. Therefore, she improved only one place in the free skate, 0.01 point behind sixth-placed Italian Sarina Joos.

“I made stupid mistakes with elements that were easy for me,” says Repond self-critically. “Maybe I wasn’t focused enough.” At the Swiss Championships in December in Küsnacht she clearly left Kaiser behind, although in September she was injured at the “Nebelhorn Trophy” in Oberstdorf and had to significantly reduce training for a while – she took a complete break of three weeks .

Sebastian Stalder (25) stayed clear on the shooting range during the biathlon sprint in Ruhpolding (De) and finished seventh in the top ten for the third time this winter. Niklas Hartweg (23), who had to drive one penalty lap, finished eighth, which was his best performance of the season so far.

The Norwegian Vetle Sjaastad Christiansen wins ahead of the Italian Tommaso Giacomel and his teammate Tarjei Bö. (SDA)

Source : Blick