Andrey SimonenkoCorrespondent SportAll materialsWorld champions Victoria Sinitsyna and Nikita Katsalapov became the winners of the European Championship in ice dancing in Tallinn. But the question of whether they will go to the Olympic Games as favorites is open. The correspondent explains why. Some judges know why the pause before the announcement of Sinitsina and Katsalapov's marks for the free dance was longer than usual. They probably reviewed some elements on the video replay. This is a normal process — but the question always arises: in which direction of doubt? When Nikita clenched his fists, it became a little scary what he would do with them if the changes in the assessment were not in his and Vika's favor. After all, the gap from Alexandra Stepanova and Ivan Bukin after the rhythmic dance was less than one and a half points. And after the execution of the free program, the score for the technique that appeared on the screen was only slightly higher than the scores of the competitors. Reset one or two difficulty levels — and here it is, a sensation … But no, Nikita's fists did not break anything that could turn up under them. The technical score was revised upwards, and the artistic score, as expected, turned out to be the highest among all participants. The second consecutive victory at the European Championships — it seems that this is an excellent springboard for Sinitsina and Katsalapov to the Olympic Games.
