Canadian underdog Stephen Gogolev held on to his short program lead to win the first major figure skating competition of his career, finishing top of the rankings at the Nebelhorn Trophy in Oberstdorf, Germany, on Friday, 26 September.
Gogolev’s previous best result in a Challenger Series event was third place at the Autumn Classic in 2023 and again at the Cranberry Cup International this August.
Heading into the free skate with a near three-point lead over USA’s Andrew Torgashev, Gogolev increased that gap to 15.54 points with a skate that was shaky at times, but showed promise at the start of the season. He scored 164.87 points to finish with 255.06 points overall – and an improvement of more than 20 points since August.
USA’s Torgashev had several falls and slips on his jumps but was able to keep his second-place position thanks to a stronger short program, while reigning European champion Lukas Britschgi of Switzerland climbed from fourth place into a podium position with 236.06 on the board.
Gogolev’s compatriot, Roman Sadovsky, was the pre-event favourite from their nation to end up on the podium at the Nebelhorn Trophy. He won the Cranberry Cup International last month with a commanding lead, but struggled to come back from a fifth-place finish in the short in Oberstdorf despite pulling out the second-highest-scoring free skate of the afternoon.
More to follow…