Estonia’s Niina Petrokina defends European title in Sheffield
2026 European Figure Skating Championships: Women’s Figure Skating
Niina Petrokina of Estonia convincingly defended her European title in the Women’s event on Friday in Sheffield, Great Britain. Belgium’s Loena Hendrickx rose from fifth to claim the silver, while Lara Naki Gutmann of Italy earned the bronze—her first European medal.
Niina Petrokina
Petrokina of Estonia gave a great performance to “Criminal Tango” in the short program. The defending champion, landed a double Axel, triple Lutz-triple toe and triple flip. The flip received an edge call, but she earned positive grades of execution on all other elements, including her level-four spins and footwork. The place first in this segment with a new personal best of 70.61.
The 21-year-old had actually just begun to train the Lutz-flip nearly two weeks ago after undergoing surgery on her Achilles (right ankle) on October 8, 2025.
“So actually, the whole preparation for this event was done in a week,” said Petrokina. “I’m so grateful to my team, my coaches, my doctors for all the work that we did. I came in here with expectation to skate clean, because I knew I could do it, but I’m still in shock a little bit, because everything happened so fast.”
“My life really isn’t boring with all the things, illnesses and injuries that happened to me, but all of this taught me that I’m unstoppable,” she added. “I have this red bag from one of my sponsors in Estonia, and it says ‘unstoppable.’ And that’s how I feel. I am unstoppable.”
The 2023 Skate America bronze medalist was solid in her dynamic free skate to music to Dune, comfortably placing first with a new personal best of 145.53 in this segment. Last to skate, she opened with a double Axel-triple toe and went on to land six more clean triples—including a triple Lutz-double Axel-double toe sequence. All spins and footwork were rewarded with a level four, and she won the title with another personal best total score of 216.14.
“Tonight, the crowd was so loud that I thought I was in Estonia!” said Petrokina. “At my first European victory, I was shocked. This time I came here to win. I wanted to show everyone that it was possible to win twice, because back in Estonia, I was told that it is really almost impossible to win it twice, so I wanted to prove that it is possible.”
The skater views her spot at the Olympics as a “present” for herself.
“I see it as a reward for all my hard work over these past four years,” said Petrokina. “This second title here will give me so much more power and confidence. And I want to work hard for it.”
Loena Hendrickx
Hendrickx, who only has two full competitions under her belt this season, placed fifth (63.34) after her short program to “Ashes.” The 26-year-old fell on her opening triple flip and underrotated the back end of triple Lutz-triple toe while the first jump received a “q.” Still, the double Axel was solid, and she earned a level four on all other elements, picking up of positive GOES on the level four spins and footwork.
“I’m disappointed because I worked really hard and this mistake on the flip usually never happens in training,” said Hendrickx. “I think it was the adrenaline which made the difference to the practice, but yeah, after the mistake, I still tried to enjoy my performance and skate for the crowd. I am happy with the Lutz. I went for the triple-triple and showed that I am a fighter.”
“I really love this program, and I really love this dress,” she added. “I think this is the most beautiful dress I’ve ever worn for skating, so I love skating in it. And of course there is still a free skate to go, but I will have to come from behind. I aim for a clean free skate. I aimed for a clean today, but it wasn’t to happen.”
Skating to “La Alegria,” the two-time world medalist opened with a triple Lutz-double toe, but the front end received an edge call. She went on to land a triple flip-double toe and triple flip, but put her hand and foot down on a triple Lutz-single toe-double loop. While all three spins were graded a level four with positive GOES, not having a triple-triple, along with the mistakes, proved costly. She placed third in this segment with 127.92 points. With a total score of 191.26, she managed to climb to second place overall.
The three-time European medalist wasn’t satisfied with her performance and said she’d rather have had second place with a “better program.”
“But I really felt weird today. I woke up sick the morning of the short, and it got worse,” said Hendrickx. “Now I am coughing a lot and have a stuffed nose. It’s not ideal. I hope my form at the Olympics will be better.”
Hendrickx has had experience in the past coming back from injury, and said that is what motivated and helped her to believe in herself.
Lara Naki Gutmann
Gutmann landed a triple toe-double toe, double Axel and triple Lutz in her short program to music from La legge di Lidia Poët. While the Lutz received an edge call, all spins and footwork were graded a level four, and she picked up many positive GOEs throughout. Missing the triple toe on the first jump was costly, however, and she finished fourth with 63.75 points.
“I don’t really know what to say right now, I had many good programs this season,” said Gutmann. “Today, I think maybe in the combination I didn’t attack enough. I think the score is quite good for the mistakes I did, and I will be the shark in the free skate.”
She was so delighted to hear that a young girl in the U.S. used the Jaws music inspired by her. Gutmann was touched by the fact that young girl in the U.S. was inspired by her and used the music Jaws as well.
Gutmann also added that it was a huge relief after being nominated to the Olympic team.
“Nationals felt super stressful, and I spoke to other athletes, and we all agree that no matter what, until the official nomination is out there, it is stressful,” said the national champ. “Somehow there is always extra stress with nationals. Of course, after the results at nationals, I kind of knew I had made it. The official email came a week later. We had this very nice trip to Rome with the flag bearer and all the team. That was really nice, but that was the only big event so far going into the Olympics, so my training wasn’t distracted.”
The four-time Challenger series medalist made some small mistakes in her creative routine to music from Jaws. She stepped out of her opening triple Lutz as well as a triple flip. She also turned out a triple loop, landed a clean triple flip, triple loop and triple toe-Axel sequence. Two spins were graded a level four, and she placed fourth in the free skate and third overall (123.12 / 186.87).
The skater said she needed time to “reflect” on her performances at this event.
“I want to come back stronger at the next competition,” said Gutmann. “I really wasn’t satisfied, but I was fighting until the end, and I think this is what brought me this medal. Of course, it’s a huge honor for me to be the first Italian to win a medal at the Europeans after Carolina Kostner.”
“The public today was so loud and threw a lot of sharks!” noted the 23-year-old. “I am so grateful for that because I love that so much. Actually, I have so many sharks at my home and I will take all of them that I got here home because I love them. What I will do with them at the end of the season, I don’t know really yet.”
Nina Pinzarrone
Nina Pinzarrone of Belgium landed a solid double Axel but landed both jumps of a triple Lutz-triple toe combo on the quarter. The triple loop was clean, however, and she also received a level four on two spins and the footwork. She finished second with her short program to “Send in the Clowns” with a season’s best of 64.97.
The two-time European bronze medalist said she was very happy and had regained her confidence.
“This is my first big competition after 10 months, and right now, I’m feeling hungry to go out there for the long,” said Pinzarrone. “It was kind of a good feeling to close the night. I was a bit too nervous for my liking. The score is good, and it feels good to be second going into the free skate. A small medal is already something.”
However, the two-time ISU Grand Prix medalist left many point on the table after several mistakes in her free skate to music from The Handmaid’s Tale. She underrotated several jumps and took a fall on a triple loop. Only a triple flip and triple Salchow were clean, but she earned many positive GOEs for her level four spins and footwork. She placed eighth (120.43) in this segment and slipped to fourth overall (185.40).
“I’m a bit sad, of course,” said the 19-year-old. “I think I have to sleep over it, but after winning the small medal, you automatically think about the big one. But the small medal is already something and it will look good in my collection.”
“I will take the good and the bad experiences from this event and learn from it,” added Pinzarrone. “I’m still going home with a good placement. My confidence is coming back more and more. I know I need to practice more.”
She will compete next at the upcoming Olympics.
“I don’t really know what to expect, but I’m so excited about it!” said Pinzarrone. “Maybe it’s my only chance in my career—I mean, I hope not—but I will do my very best for this event. I will be attending the opening ceremony, then I will go back home and train and will come back when it is closer to the event. I was actually so happy that I could secure the two spots last year at Worlds, and then knowing that one was actually mine, that was the big pressure event for me. I’m so happy that I back then managed to make the top 10.”
Anastasiia Gubanova
Georgia’s Anastasiia Gubanova found herself in 11th place (56.17) after a rough short program. Both jumps in a triple flip-triple toe combo were landed on the quarter, and she later underrotated and fell on a triple Lutz. She also received a one-point deduction for a time violation.
“Shit happens. That’s what it is today,” she said matter-of-factly. “Of course, I will fight in the free program. My preparation wasn’t ideal. The first half of the season was very tough, many competitions. It was quite stressful. Now there was a lot of time in between. My shape isn’t the best, but I will try to get into my very best shape for the competition that matters the most, the Olympic Games.”
The six-time Challenger Series medalist rebounded in her emotional free skate to music from Ghost (The Musical), placing second (128.19) in this segment. She landed a total of six triple jumps, but a triple Lutz and triple flip were underrotated. The opening triple flip-triple toe was solid, however, and she earned a level four on all three spins. With a total score of 184.36, she soared six places to fifth place overall.
“Today, for me, it was not easy emotionally to put myself together,” admitted the 23-year-old. “To be honest, practices did not go well between the short and the free, and also the warm-up wasn’t perfect, but I didn’t give up.”
“There was also great support for us from my Georgian team,” Gubanova added. “We all support each other. Anastasia from Paris was with me in the dressing room and supported me so much. I want to thank all the Georgian team, the head of our federation, everybody was so supportive, and I felt it all the way.”
She will compete next month at the 2026 Olympics.
“I’m more excited about the team event,” said Gubanova. “In my opinion, it’s more important than the individual one. I want to push the maximum out of myself for the team event.”
Sarina Joos
Sarina Joos of Italy placed seventh (58.90) in the short program. She landed a triple Lutz-triple toe and double Axel, but the triple flip was slightly underrotated. She scored 59.90 points.
Skating to music from the I Medici soundtrack, the 19-year-old landed a total of seven triple jumps, including a triple Lutz-double Axel-double toe sequence. She hung on to a triple flip while the solo triple Lutz was a tad underrotated, but she picked up a level four on two spins to finish fifth with a new personal best score of 121.94. With a total score of 180.84, another personal best, she rose to sixth place overall.
“I’m super happy and super emotional,” said Joos. “I’m so happy that I could show the programs the way I did them in practice, as I trained them very hard every day. I’m just so grateful. So the biggest thank you to my team, to my coaching team, my parents, my sister for supporting me.”
“I really like this music, and I really wanted to show my emotions,” she said of her music for the free skate. “My mom watched the movie, and she proposed it to me, and I really, really love this piece. It really came together nicely.”
Kimmy Repond of Switzerland, who missed the first half of the season due to a foot injury, placed seventh overall (177.89), followed by Italy’s Anna Pezzetta (177.14) and Ekaterina Kurakova of Poland (175.15).
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