Slovak figure skater Adam Hagara is currently in 14th place after a short program at the EC in Sheffield.
The 19-year-old competitor landed a quadruple tumbling in his short program to the music of Bruno Mars, but only jumped a triple lutz with a double tumbling in the combination.
He traditionally managed the triple axel very well, but he only got level two for two pirouettes and level three for the next one.
He received 68.96 points for his short program.
“I’m quite satisfied with the ride. Today my legs were a little harder, it was probably because I went last in the heat,” said Hagara immediately after the ride.
“I could have jumped the combination three-three, but I ended up a little bad. So I didn’t want to risk it, but I probably should have gone for it. It was an unnecessary mistake,” the Slovak figure skater evaluated his performance.
Despite a minor hesitation, he expected higher grades. “I counted the pirouettes to get all the levels… I don’t know, I have to look it up,” he shook his head.
“I will fix it in the free run, I will show them that they should score me higher,” he declared determinedly.
It is the first season in which Hagara has included a quadruple jump in his rides. He struggled a bit with it in training in Sheffield, but he managed it in the race, although he rolled it a bit.
“I was very focused on it. I had a bit of a bad turn, but I’m happy that I went for it,” he noted.
He has nothing to blame
Alexandra Hagarová, the trainer and sister, was also disappointed by the point gain of her ward and brother.
“I think Adam didn’t go for the points he got. The only mistake was the combination, otherwise I have nothing to blame him for. He fought, jumped a quadruple jump,” she said.
“With a quadruple tulup, the whole thing is much more stressful, it’s not so easy anymore,” she emphasized.
For Adam Hagara, it is already the fifth European championship. Four years ago in Tallinn, he was 25th, then took eighteenth, eleventh and twelfth place.
In Sheffield, she wants to get into the top ten, because that would mean two places for Slovakia at the next championship.
At the moment, he is losing less than nine points to the tenth place. “Free is usually my better ride. I’ll ride to the maximum and see how it goes,” said Hagara.
“I like the atmosphere here, people support all the skaters. It’s great here,” emphasized the Slovak Olympian.
He got into the athletes’ commission
Adam Hagara is studying at university in addition to his career as a top athlete, but he will soon have other responsibilities. He got into the commission of athletes of the International Skating Union (ISU).
He was the only candidate for figure skating soloists, so he is already de facto elected.
“I don’t know much about it yet, I will find out at the meeting on Saturday. I will represent my rivals and friends,” said the young athlete.
The other candidates are mostly more experienced athletes, in addition to Hagar, 36-year-old ice dancer Evan Bates already has a place in the commission. 42-year-old Deanna Stellatová-Dudeková and 30-year-old Sui Wen-ching are candidates for the sports couple.
“I received an email from the union asking if I would be interested. It could be a big deal for me,” he emphasized.
Aymoz exploded again
After a short program, the Georgian Nika Egadze leads, closely followed by the Selevkovci brothers from Estonia, Alexander and Mikhail.
Acting European champion Lukas Britschgi from Switzerland is currently sixth.
The Frenchman Kevin Aymoz, who won the Nepel Memorial a few months ago, completely exploded again and did not even get into the free races. It happened to him for the third time at the European Championship.
Free rides are on the program on Saturday afternoon.
