Charlène Guignard and Marco Fabbri on course for 3rd European ice dance gold
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Italian ice dancers Charlène Guignard and Marco Fabbri closed in on a third consecutive title as the European figure skating championships continued Friday. The skating community remains in shock following the mid-air collision between a jet and helicopter near Washington, D.C., with a number of skaters, coaches and their families among the fatalities.
Guignard and Fabbri scored 84.23 points in their rhythm dance to music by artists including Stevie Wonder, moving nearly 1.5 points clear of France's Evgeniia Lopareva and Geoffrey Brissaud in second place.
Britain's Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson are third on 81.57 after getting out of sync on their opening twizzle element.
The European championships began Wednesday and have continued following the news that young skaters, their coaches and family members were among those killed when their jet collided with an Army helicopter. They had been returning from a U.S. national development camp for promising young skaters.
The women's free skate at the European championships is later Friday, with Anastasiia Gubanova of Georgia in first place after the short program.
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