Dundee figure skating champions Ana Vaipan-Law and Luke Digby earned Great Britain their best Pairs finish at the European Championships in almost 40 years.
That’s despite Vaipan-Law suffering a heavy fall in morning practice that required treatment from paramedics.
Thankfully she was OK to compete and the British champions put in a personal best performance in Estonia.
A super start on day one saw Digby and Vaipan-Law sitting in fourth spot midway through the competition.
Despite a couple of errors, the pair registered their best score in the Free Program before finishing up in fifth spot.
Not since Cheryl Peake and Andrew Naylor in 1989 have any British pair finished as high as fifth.
Luke said: “Our goal was eighth, because we have been 10th and ninth before and wanted to climb up a little bit.
“We are thrilled and very proud of our achievement over the last two days.
“A top five finish is a dream come true and we loved having lots of support from the crowd.
“We will take some time to recover and reflect upon a great event here at the Europeans.
“Then we will look forward to building up to another World Championships with it being the first Olympic qualifying event.”
‘Scare’
The day finished on a positive note. However, earlier on Vaipan-Law had a real fright in morning practice.
Attempting a lift, the Dundee-based skater fell heavily on the ice and required paramedic care.
“It was quite a scare,” Vaipan-Law revealed.
“I will definitely not watch the video of this fall until I retire.
“But it turned out OK. For me it was very important to go back on the ice, to not let it get into my head.
“So after I was taken care of, I continued the practice, and that was important for me.”
Picking up European gold were German pair Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin.
However, the event in Tallinn was overshadowed by the Washington DC plane crash, where a number of young skaters, coaches and their families lost their lives.
Digby and Vaipan-Law said: “Our hearts go out to everyone affected, including figure skaters, their families, and coaches.”
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