Posted at 6:35 a.m., Saturday, January 26, 2008
Figure skating: Italy's Kostner wins European title
Associated Press
ZAGREB, Croatia — Carolina Kostner of Italy withstood a challenge from Sarah Meier to successfully defend her title today in the final event at the European Figure Skating Championships.Kostner finished with 111.97 points for the free skate and 171.28 overall to become the first Italian woman to win two European titles.
"I have tried to stay really calm and concentrate all week," Kostner said.
Meier moved from fourth to take her second straight silver medal with the top free program. The Swiss skater had 169.44 points overall and 113.00 for her free skate.
Laura Lepisto of Finland was third with 166.65 points. Teammate Kiira Korpi, who was second entering the free, had 162.22 points and dropped to fifth place behind Julia Sebestyen of Hungary, who scored 162.89.
Kostner looked nervous as she opened up with a triple-triple-double to music by Dvorak. She then scaled down to a double lutz — as she did in the short program. But she managed three more triples to finish.
"I thought I did it really good, but I think I can do it better," Kostner said.
Her score fell well short of the 190-plus scores by Asian skaters Kim Yu-na and Mao Asada from the Grand Prix Final last month, where Kostner finished third.
