At the European Championships in Tallinn, Estonia, Daniel Grassl rewrites the history of blue figure skating.
The 19-year-old talent of the Fiamme Oro, in the third of the four competition days of the continental review, recovers three positions compared to the fifth place of the short program and wins a historic silver medal for Italy with the new national record, raised to 274.48 points.
For the man from Merano, a pupil of Lorenzo Magri, this is the first podium in his career at the European Championships after the fourth place in 2020.
For the tricolor movement, on the other hand, Grassl's silver surpasses the splendid bronze won in 2019 by Matteo Rizzo: like Daniel only Samuel Contesti, silver at Helsinki 2009, and, at the beginning of the 1950s, Carlo Fassi, capable of winning a silver over to two golds. Historical references that give the scope of Grassl's enterprise.
On the ice of the Estonian capital, today the blue gave a show: for him the second free day of the day at 182.73 - a new Italian record in the segment, behind only the Russian Kondratiuk (187.50), later winner of the race.
Grassl impressed with the cleanliness of a very rich program from a technical point of view with three quadruple jumps, also appearing well under the artistic profile.
On the podium, behind him and therefore bronze, was the Latvian Vasilejvs with 272.08 points.