Two-time Olympians Nicholas Buckland and Penny Coomes will be aiming to spring a surprise on their opponents when the European Figure Skating Championships get underway on Wednesday.
The duo were forced to miss last year’s edition due to illness and subsequently suffered the same fate at the 2016 World Championships when Coomes fell ill in America.
But they have been working hard in training in preparation for their first major outing of 2016.
Earlier this season the Brits claimed a silver medal at the Ondrej Nepela Trophy event in Slovakia while they have also placed fourth and fifth respectively at the Trophee Eric Bompard and NHK Trophy Grands Prix respectively.
And ahead of the start of the ice dance competition in Bratislava, Slovakia on Thursday, the pair – who’s best European Championship finish was third in 2014 – were in high spirits.
“This season has so far been about us finding our feet again after illness caused us to miss out on the European and World Championships last season,” they said.
“Our Grand Prix events and the National Championships went well and we were happy with our performances, however our team felt like something was missing.
“Since then we have made some big changes and have been working extremely hard to surprise everyone with our performances; we are excited to share it all with you next week at the European Figure Skating Championships!”
The annual competition will see the best European figure skating talent compete across four disciplines: men, ladies, pairs and ice dance.
Buckland and Coomes will be joined at the Championships by Christopher Boyadji and Amani Fancy in the pairs, Danielle Harrison in the ladies and Phillip Harris in the men’s competition.
Sportbeat 2016