Fernandez writes name into history books with fifth straight European title

The Spaniard matched the achievement of Ondrej Nepela between 1969 and 1973 when he clinched the title on Saturday.

Leading after Friday's short program, Fernandez was once again a class above in Saturday's free skate, scoring an impressive 190.59 to top the standings with his nearest rival being Maxim Kovtun on 172.27.

Fernandez finished with a total of 294.84 with Kovtun second on 266.80 and fellow Russian Mikhail Kolyada third on 250.18.

Meanwhile France's Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron danced off with their third European title after rising from third to first place after the ice dance in Ostrava.

The two-time World Champions scored 114.19 for their routine, collecting a level four for their lifts, to finish with an overall score of 189.67.

That was enough to lift them top of the podium ahead of Italy's Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte on 186.64 while Russia's Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev took the bronze on 186.56.

Cizeron said: “We fought well in the free dance. We skated at the same level as in practice, and it was so nice to put that out on to the ice.

“We had nothing to lose. You have to deal with each position you're in a different way. We are learning that in our career.

“It is not easy and we're very happy to have been able to overcome the difficulties and to give a program with so much emotion.”

Sportsbeat 2017