Gold medalist Niina Petrokina of Estonia, centre, silver medalist Anastasiia Gubanova of Georgia, left, and bronze medalist Belgium's Nina Pinzarrone celebrate during the victory ceremony for women free skating competition in the ISU European Figure Skating Championships, Tallinn, Estonia, Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. Credit: AP/Sergei Grits

Germany's Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin put themselves firmly on course for their first European figure skating title Wednesday in the pairs short program. Coming off a win at the Grand Prix Final last month,

Anastasiia Gubanova has taken a narrow lead in the short program as she aims to regain her title at the European figure skating championships.