17/01/2023
The 2023 European Championships take place in Espoo, Finland, Jan. 23-29. For many skaters, this competition will be the deciding factor for their nations as to who will earn a coveted berth at the World Championships in March.
First-time champions will be crowned in all four disciplines.
The men′s event is wide open with several podium contenders in the field of 30. Top picks would be Italy′s Daniel Grassl and Adam Siao Him Fa of France both won a Grand Prix event this season; Deniss Vasiljevs of Latvia, who finished third in England, Italy′s Matteo Rizzo, the bronze medalist in Canada and French star Kévin Aymoz who skated into third in Finland.
The women′s competition is headlined by Loena Hendrickx of Belgium, the Grand Prix Final bronze medalist, who will be looking to improve on her fourth-place finish in 2022. Other top contenders include Anastasiia Gubanova of Georgia, third at the Sheffield Grand Prix, and Poland′s Ekaterina Kurakova, the Warsaw Cup champion.
Italy will field three pairs teams led by Sari Conti and Niccolo Macci who captured medals at both their Grand Prix events and bronze at the Final. They will be joined by Rebecca Ghilardi and Filippo Ambrosini — who jointly earned the three spots in 2022 — and the recently-married Matteo Guarise and his new partner Lucrezia Beccari. Georgia′s Karina Safina and Luca Berulava could also be in the mix along with Camille Kovalev and Pavel Kovalev of France and Germany′s Annika Hocke and Robert Kunkel and Alisa Efimova and Ruben Blommaert.
In ice dance, Charlène Guignard and Marco Fabbri of Italy lead the way followed by Great Britain’s Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson and Allison Reed and Saulius Ambrulevičius of Lithuania.
For U.S. viewers, there is no live coverage on the main NBC network. A highlights recap will air on Feb. 5 from 2-4 p.m. (Possible viewing options will be added closer to the start of the competition). Check your local listings for air dates and times on the speciality channels. Canadian fans can watch the competition live on the ISU Skating Channel.
This competition takes place in the same time frame as the U.S. Championships (link below).