An Estonian skater has won the European Figure Skating Championship for the first time.

On Friday, January 31, at the European Figure Skating Championships taking place in Tallinn, the women's medal set was contested. Estonian representative Nina Petrikina won the gold medal. This marks a historic achievement for Estonian figure skating, as representatives from this country have never reached such heights before.

Nina Petrikina performed excellently in both the short and free programs, accumulating a total score of 208.18.

«I can't describe what is happening inside me. I am used to performing, not speaking in front of such a large audience. I still can't grasp what is happening», commented the Estonian figure skater on her victory.

Petrikina skated without serious mistakes, although there was a fall, but it occurred between elements.

The silver medal was awarded to Georgian representative Anastasia Gubanova (198.61 points). The bronze went to Belgium's Nina Pincarone (191.44).

It is worth noting that the reigning European champion Luna Hendriks did not compete due to an injury.

Additionally, it became known that in the short program, judge Breda Marinsek awarded Nina only 0.75 points for her skating skills out of a maximum of 10 points. Other scores for composition and presentation were 7.75 and 8, respectively. It is suspected that the judge made a mistake when entering the numbers. Her score was dismissed as the lowest. Had it not been for this, the Estonian skater would have led after the short program.

The Tallinn native could have ended her career in 2020 after being diagnosed with aplastic anemia. However, the athlete managed to overcome the illness and return to figure skating.

It is also worth mentioning that Ukrainian figure skater Anastasia Hozhva was unable to qualify for the finals of the competition.