Scottish pairs skaters smash personal best as European Figure Skating Championships sees biggest British team in decade compete

Great Britain is fielding its biggest team of skaters at the competition in ten years

Scottish pairs team Anastasia Vaipan Law and Luke Digby are lying in eighth place after the short programme on the first day of the European Figure Skating Championships where Great Britain has fielded the biggest team to compete in over a decade.

Three-times national champions Ms Vaipan Law and Mr Digby, who train at Dundee Ice Arena and placed tenth at last year’s European Championships, are among twelve British skaters to take part at the event this week in Kaunas, Lithuania. They scored 56.79 in the short programme, beating their personal best of 55.42.

The other pairs team, Lydia Smart and Harry Mattick, from Swindon, qualified for the free skate final in fourteenth place in their first time competing at the event, scoring 51.6.

Britain's Anastasia Vaipan-Law and Luke Digby perform the pairs short program of the ISU European Figure Skating Championship 2024 in Kaunas, Lithuania.

In ice dance, Lewis Gibson, from Prestwick and his partner Lilah Fear, will be hoping for a place on the podium after scooping a silver medal in the event last year. Their main competition will be Italian couple Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri, who came in second place at the recent Grand Prix final in Beijing, where Mr Gibson and Ms Fear ranked fourth.

They said: “We are so excited to perform in Lithuania for the first time. It is always a huge honour to compete at the European Championships, and an opportunity that brings us such joy and drive.”

Also in the ice dance competition, which begins on Friday, are Phebe Bekker and James Hernandez, from Guildford, who are in their first year on the senior circuit, after winning fourth place in the Junior World Figure Skating Championships last year and Layla Karnes and Liam Carr, who are competing in their first major international championships.

Representing Great Britain in the single disciplines are Nina Povey and Edward Appleby, from Nottingham and Romford respectively.

Ms Povey is debuting at her first major international championships, following the retirement of six-times national champion Natasha McKay from Dundee last year.

Meanwhile Mr Appleby is competing in his first senior championship representing Great Britain in the men's category, where he is due to skate on Wednesday afternoon.

He said: “I am thrilled to have the opportunity to represent Great Britain once again. This will be my first senior championship; I’m really looking forward to being part of the team and giving it my best.”

Leading the pairs competition before Thursday’s free skate are Georgians Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava, who scored 71.30, while Grand Prix final champions Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin from Germany are lying in second place with 69.63. Italians Sara Conti and Niccolo Macci, who won last year’s competition, finished in seventh place after the short programme after a disappointing skate where they scored 61.52.