Papadakis and Cizeron reign supreme once again at European Championships

In what represented the perfect build up to next month's Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, Papadakis and Cizeron produced intricate yet effortless looking footwork and lifts to score 121.87 points for their free dance.

That improved their own record score and saw them accumulate 203.16 points overall, another record score.

"We have a great team working with us and it is their experience and the trust we have in them and also the relationship in our pair that is the secret of our success," said Cizeron.

"The Europeans Championships were an important step for us and a good opportunity to test the little adjustments we've made to our programs. The Olympic Games will come up very soon now and we're really excited.

Second went to Russia's Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev who moved up from fourth place after the short dance to finish on 187.13 while teammates Alexandra Stepanova and Ivan Bukin earned bronze with 184.86.

Great Britain's PyeongChang-bound duo Penny Coomes and Nick Buckland were seventh.

Meanwhile Russia's world junior champion Alina Zagitova spun her way to gold at what was her debut European Championships.

Zagitova, 15, achieved a personal best of 157.97 in the free skate to total 238.24 points ahead of two-time European champion Evgenia Medvedeva, also from Russia, with five-time European champion Carolina Kostner of Italy taking bronze, for what represented her 11th European medal.

Zagitova said "I was nervous because there was a long break between training this morning and the competition. But I wanted to skate a clean program and to enjoy it.

"I did not expect to win, I haven't really realised it yet. To skate at home is on the one hand harder, because you don't want to let down your home and your fans. On the other hand, it is easier, because you get so much support."

Sportsbeat 2018