European Figure Skating Championships: Digby and Viban Lu see medal dreams crushed by fall

Although it was a bad day for the Britons, it was a successful day for Georgia – whose coaching staff is considered one of the most controversial figures in figure skating.

The afternoon session included a men’s short program, topped by another Georgian – Nika Igadze, who posted an impressive score of 91.28.

Ighadze is trained by Eteri Tutberidze, who made headlines for her reprimanding of Camila Valeeva at the 2022 Olympics.

Tutberidze sat next to Ejadze during the announcement of the results in Sheffield, and hugged her after his results came out.

He then defended Tutberidze’s training methods in his media conference, telling the BBC: “I really like working with Eteri, I’ve skated with her for nine years.

“We connect really well, as a whole team. She listens to me more now.”

Tutberidze previously worked with the Russian national team, whose athletes have been banned from these tournaments – and will compete as neutrals at Milan 2026 – due to the country’s ongoing aggression in Ukraine.