(Reuters) – Russia’s 15-year-old Kamila Valieva won the European figure skating championships in Estonia on Saturday, solidifying her status as the gold-medal favourite for next month’s Beijing Olympics.
Valieva finished with a total of 259.06 points — achieving a 90.45 score in the women’s short programme on Thursday and 168.61 in the free skate event on Saturday.
She fell on her triple Axel but landed two quadruple jumps — a Salchow to open and a flip in combination with a triple toe loop — in the free skate event after breaking her own world record with a nearly flawless short programme.
Valieva led an all-Russian podium, with Anna Shcherbakova in second and Alexandra Trusova third. Shcherbakova finished 21.64 points behind champion Valieva.
Russia are expected to announce their Olympic line-up for the Feb. 4-20 Beijing Games next week, with all three skaters likely to make the cut.
(Reporting by Manasi Pathak in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
