Triumph in free skating

Vasiliki Alexandri wins the next gold medal

Vasiliki Alexandri was once again unbeatable(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Synchronized swimmer Vasiliki Alexandri is double European champion! After her success in Belgrade in the technical freestyle, the 26-year-old also triumphed in the free freestyle final on Thursday. 

It was a perfect title fight for the OSV athlete, as she had also won the preliminary competition in the free freestyle on Monday. Her second solo gold is Alexandri's fourth European Championship medal overall, having won bronze twice in Rome in 2022. In 2023, she was twice runner-up at the World Championships in Fukuoka.

The two-time sixth-place finisher at this year's World Championships in Doha was also the favorite going into the second title decision of these championships, where her nerves held. With 257.4959 points, Alexandri came out on top, as in the technical freestyle - but quite narrowly - ahead of Germany's Klara Bleyer (253.4742) and the Netherlands' Marloes Steenbeek (238.1667). It was the end of a successful season for triplet sister Vasiliki, who won a World Cup in Paris at the beginning of May. However, the solo competition is not an Olympic event.

Illness of Eirini-Marina
While "Vaso" won Austria's first European Championship gold medal in the solo event, her sisters Anna-Maria and Eirini-Marina were absent, as they were at the World Championships in Qatar - this time due to Eirini-Marina's feverish illness. For the two of them, the Olympic Games in around a month and a half are all about winning their first Olympic medal. Last year, they were crowned duet world champions in the free skate in Japan.

The result:
1st Vasiliki Alexandri (AUT) 257.4959 points
2. Klara Bleyer (GER) 253.4772
3. Marloes Steenbeek (NED) 238.1667