Defending champions Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron rebounded from second place after the short dance to retain their ice dance title at the European figure skating championships on Saturday in Bratislava, Slovakia.
Meanwhile, Olympic champions Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov returned in style after skipping last season, taking gold comfortably in the pairs.
Skating to ‘‘Rain In Your Black Eyes’’ by Ezio Bosso and ‘‘Build a Home’’ by Cinematic Orchestra, the French duo of Papadakis and Cizeron performed the best free dance to triumph by more than 4 points.
‘‘We proved we could do it again,’’ Cizeron said. ‘‘Especially because of Gabriella’s injury, we were a little bit late with preparation. Now, we just want to enjoy the rest of the season.’’
They will be defending their title at the world championships in Boston in March.
They scored 182.71 points, beating the 178.01 of 2014 European and world champions Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte. The Italians led by more than 1.5 points after the short dance, but had only the third best free dance to music from ‘‘La Doce Vita.’’
The 2013 champions Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev of Russia took bronze with 176.50 after the second-best free dance.
In pairs, the Russian leaders after the short program also performed the best free skate, to music from ‘‘Bram Stoker’s Dracula.’’ Despite notable high jumps, including throw triple flip and loop, they had a problem in synchronizing a triple toe loop, and still won their fourth European title by more than 20 points.
‘‘Our skating was not the best, but not bad,’’ Trankov said. ‘‘The most important, we won.’’
Their total of 222.66 points outclassed the second-place Germans Aliona Savchenko and Bruno Massot, who scored 200.78. Massot is a new partner for Savchenko, a five-time world champion.
‘‘It’s our first medal together and I'm very happy,’’ Savchenko said.
Another Russian pair, Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov, repeated their bronze of last year with 197.55.
Defending champions Yuko Kavaguti and Alexander Smirnov of Russia were forced to withdraw because Kavaguti was injured.
Men’s Alpine — Aleksander Aamodt Kilde posted his first career victory when he came down as a late starter to clinch the downhill, despite trailing in the upper half of the Kandahar course in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany .
Bostjan Kline of Slovenia appeared headed for his first triumph until Kilde, wearing bib No. 30, blazed down at the bottom half to win by .22 seconds.
Kilde’s win gave Norway its fifth downhill victory this season.
The first four were by Aksel Lund Svindal, but the downhill World Cup leader sustained a season-ending knee injury in a crash last week in Kitzbuehel, Austria.
Norwegian men have won 16 races in all disciplines this season. The last season a country had at least 16 race wins was in 2005-06 — when Austrian men had 18.
‘‘It’s unbelievable for Team Norway,’’ Kilde said.
Kilde’s previous career best was third place in a Super-G in Val Gardena, Italy, in December. Kline’s previous top finish was 13th in Santa Caterina, Italy, in December 2014.
Starting with the No. 3 bib, Kline had a long wait as leader before Kilde completed his winning run, making up time at the bottom of the course. Beat Feuz of Switzerland was third and Christof Innerhofer of Italy finished fourth.
Svindal remains ahead in downhill standings — 121 points clear of Peter Fill of Italy, the Kitzbuehel winner who finished 11th . Marcel Hirscher of Austria will be looking to increase his overall lead in Sunday’s giant slalom.
Kilde covered the 3,300-meter Kandahar course in 1 minute, 55.28 seconds.
‘‘It was dark, fast, and bumpy and fun to ski,’’ said Kilde, who played soccer into his teenage years.
Although it was a mild and sunny day, the course is in the shadows and Kilde said his late starting number was not a handicap.
‘‘When I got my number yesterday [at the draw], I thought it would be difficult to get into the top 10,’’ the Norwegian said.
‘‘I thought it was pretty even for everyone. They did a good job in this weather and it was holding up pretty well.’’
Kilde’s late heroics robbed Kline of a sensational career first on one of the most difficult downhill courses.
‘‘I knew it was going to be a long race,’’ Kline said. ‘‘But the adrenaline was pumping up.’’
Kline saw some of the pre-race favorites go out. Erik Guay of Canada, world champion in this German resort in 2011 and twice winner on the Kandahar hill, veered off course and missed a gate. So did Hannes Reichelt of Austria, last year’s winner here and the fastest in practice, who went out at the very same spot.
Johan Clarey of France crashed heavily and slid down the hill before standing up and skiing into the finish area to the cheers of the crowd.
‘‘When I saw the favorites going out, I thought I had a chance,’’ Kline said. ‘‘I had a great run but I never thought that I could finish that high. It’s a big step for me.’’
Feuz, who came third in Kitzbuehel, was .24 back in third, with Innerhofer only .01 behind him in fourth. Adrien Theaux was fifth, .29 seconds behind the winner.
‘‘I've had very little training. I benefited from the fact that some of the top guys went out,’’ Feuz said. The Swiss is coming back from an Achilles’ tendon injury.
Another late starter, Matteo Marsaglia, with bib No. 52, shared sixth place with Travis Ganong of the United States. They were .65 seconds off the pace.
‘‘I wasn’t really sure I was going to be able to ski this week with my knee — I had a bone bruise after Kitzbuehel,’’ Ganong said after his best finish on the Kandahar course. ‘‘I'm just really happy that I pushed through and raced today because it’s an awesome result.’’
Women’s Alpine — Viktoria Rebensburg of Germany overcame a huge mistake early in the final run in Maribor, Slovenia, to win her second straight World Cup giant slalom.
The 2010 Olympic champion caught a bump and only made the next gate after firmly slowing down.
‘‘The run was chaotic from top to bottom,’’ Rebensburg said. ‘‘At the fourth gate I was thinking, ‘OK, I can stop here.’ But I won the race. That’s the only thing that matters.’’
Rebensburg finished in a two-run time of 2 minutes, 29.82 seconds to beat Ana Drev of Slovenia by 0.32, and Tina Weirather of Liechtenstein by 0.34.
It was Rebensburg’s 10th victory in GS, matching the German best mark set by Martina Ertl-Renz from 1994-2003.
Lindsey Vonn failed to finish her second run. After a fast start, she led then-leader Michaela Kirchgasser of Austria by 0.74 before losing balance and sliding into the safety netting. Vonn, who was unhurt, stayed overall leader as her main rival, Lara Gut, also skied out in the final run.
Vonn has 900 points, Gut 855.
Rebensburg and Drev also came 1-2 in Flachau, Austria, two weeks ago, which was the German’s first win in the discipline in more than three years.
‘‘It’s all coming together now,’’ said Rebensburg, who was runner-up to Eva-Maria Brem after the first run.
The Austrian dropped to fourth, 0.41 behind Rebensburg. It was the third straight race in which Brem came fourth but she remained top of the season’s discipline standings with 442 points, 32 clear of Rebensburg.
With Slovenian standout Tina Maze taking a yearlong break from racing, all hopes of the home fans were with Drev.
‘‘I didn’t feel that pressure,’’ said Drev after earning her second career podium finish. ‘‘It was my dream to ski well in my home race so this is an incredible feeling.’’
Course workers used salt between the runs to harden the top layer after the Pohorje course visibly deteriorated during the opening leg due to mild temperatures.
The weakened surface slowed later starters. Even racers who were up to 5.77 seconds off the lead finished in the top 30 and qualified for the second run.
Vonn, who started 15th and came 2.45 back in 12th in the opening run, called it ‘‘a shame.’’
‘‘Later starters have no chance at all,’’ said Vonn, the only starter who has won this race before — in 2013. ‘‘On the top the snow isn’t bad, on the bottom it’s like sugar.’’
Weirather, who climbed a spot after finishing the opening run in fourth, agreed with the American.
‘‘It was a day full of fighting. It didn’t feel well,’’ Weirather said. ‘‘It was tough to stay on the race line. The race was on the limits. It makes me proud that I've done so well in these difficult conditions.’’
Federica Brignone of Italy, who won the season-opening GS in October, went through a gate and crashed into the safety netting but skied down to the finish area shortly afterward.
A slalom on the same course is scheduled for Sunday.
Nordic combined — Eric Frenzel of Germany won his second event in two days at Seefeld, Austria, to go top of the overall World Cup standings.
The Olympic champion beat Akito Watabe of Japan in a similar scenario to Friday’s race.
Runner-up after the ski jump, Frenzel started the 10-kilometer cross-country race four seconds behind Watabe. They shared the lead for most of the race until the German went ahead in the final kilometer.
Frenzel ended up beating Watabe by 24.9 seconds.
‘‘I knew that if I made a long sprint to the finish I could earn some seconds from Akito,’’ said Frenzel after earning his 10th straight victory in the Austrian resort, which will host the 2019 world championships.
Fabian Riessle came 1:27.7 back in third, and lost the overall lead to his German teammate. Frenzel has 471 points, Riessle 454.
Ski jump — Peter Prevc led a Slovenian sweep at a World Cup event in Sapporo, Japan.
Prevc had jumps of 131.5 and 136.5 meters for a total of 299 points, 16 points ahead of his brother Domen Prevc, who had jumps of 129.5 and 134.5 meters.
Robert Kranjec was third — with two jumps of 131.5 and 281.9 points — for his first World Cup podium finish in two years.
Japanese veteran Noriaki Kasai was fourth.
Last season’s overall World Cup winner Severin Freund finished 10th after a fall in the final, with the German appearing unhurt.
In Oberstdorf, Germany, Sara Takanashi of Japan won her sixth women’s World Cup event in succession.
The 19-year-old Takanashi soared 104.0 meters for a new hill record at Obertsdorf, and then bettered it with the day’s longest jump at 107.0 meters for 278.5 points to beat next-best Daniela Iraschko-Stolz of Austria.
Iraschko-Stolz jumped 97.5 and 100.0 for 251.7 points, ahead of Slovenian teammates Ema Klinec and Maja Vtic.
Another Austrian, Jacqueline Seifriedsberger, was fifth.
Luge — Olympic champion Natalie Geisenberger of Germany won her third world championship.
Geisenberger shot down her home track track in Koenigssee, Germany, in 50.390 seconds and then 50.409. Her combined time beat Martina Kocher of Switzerland by 0.256.
Tatiana Ivanova of Russia was third, followed by Germany’s Tatjana Huefner and Latvia’s Eliza Cauce.
Earlier, Olympic champions Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt of Germany secured their third world championship by winning the doubles sprint ahead of compatriots Toni Eggert and Sascha Benecken.
The men’s singles is scheduled for Sunday.
