December 11, 2021 - Croatian ice skating pair Lana Petranović and Antonio Souza Kordeira broke their personal record for the second day in a row at the 53rd Golden Pirouette in Sisak. 

American pair Audrey Lu and Misha Mitrofanov and Georgian Anastasia Gubanova won the first gold medals at the 53rd Golden Pirouette hosted by the Zibel Ice Hall in Sisak.

The Americans jumped from third place to the top of the podium and celebrated with a convincing 195.32 points ahead of Georgian pair Anastasia Metelkina and Danilo Parkman (189.60) and bronze Russians Julia Artemeva and Mikhail Nazarichev (189.29).

Croatian pair Lana Petranović and Antonio Souza Kordeira broke their personal record for the second day in a row in Sisak. After a short time, they had a record number of points in the free program and improved their personal record by 10 points (163.29), which brought them the final 11th place at this year's Golden Pirouette, but also another confirmation for next year's World Championship.

"We repeated the performance from the day before and hit a new personal record. The jumps did not go according to plan today, but everything else was very good. I'm just not happy with the jumps. But it can be worked on. We are returning to Russia and working for the European Championships in early January. The atmosphere tonight was great, a lot of people came, they supported us throughout the program," said Lana Petranović after the performance.

The best skater of the 53rd Golden Pirouette is Georgian Anastasia Gubanova, who won silver in this competition in 2018 but then skated for Russia. She has now won her first major medal under the new flag. She was the best in the short program and third in the free skate, which was still enough for gold (184.29). The current vice-champion of America, Amber Glenn, won silver with 183.36 points.

Estonian Niina Petrokina won the best free program, and with her results from the first day, she won the bronze (182.57). 

Lithuanian couple Allison Reed and Saulius Ambrulevicius (75.81) had the best rhythm dance, and in the final on Saturday, they will fight for gold against the equally great Americans, Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker (74.60), but also Russian pair Elizabeth Shanayev and David Narizhny (70.59) and Armenians Tina Garabedian and Simon Proulx Senecal (70.57).

Source: HRT

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

October 22, 2021 - The 53rd Golden Pirouette international skating competition will be held from December 8 to 11 at the Zibel Ice Hall in Sisak. For the first time in the 54-year history of this competition, the Golden Pirouette will be held outside Zagreb.

As the Ice Hall at the Zagreb Sports Hall has been out of order since the Zagreb earthquake, for the first time since 1967, and the first edition of the Golden Pirouette skating competition, Zagreb will not be the host, reports T.portal.

Across its over five-decade-long history, many international skaters have visited Zagreb and many have made their debut in the competition program in the Croatian capital. Fortunately, only the host city has changed this time around, and the Golden Pirouette will go on!

Thus, this year's edition of the legendary skating competition will be held in Sisak from December 8 to 11, 2021. 

"Sisak was also damaged in the earthquake, but the local Ice Hall is newer, and there is no damage, so we had the option to come here or postpone the competition. With the help of the City of Sisak and the Sports and Recreation Center, we managed to solve all the technical issues needed to organize this competition, and we are glad that the people of Sisak will enjoy top skating," said Morana Paliković Gruden, president of the Croatian Skating Federation and vice president of the COC.

"I hope that this is the beginning of cooperation between Sisak and the Croatian Skating Federation and that the Golden Pirouette will attract visitors, but also encourage many Sisak citizens to get into ice sports. That is why we built the Ice Hall," added the mayor of Sisak Kristina Ikić Baniček.

The best competition is expected at this year's event as well, mainly because there are fewer skating competitions due to the pandemic. Many will use Sisak as an opportunity to qualify for the World Championship, which is scheduled for January 2022.

Five to seven Croatian competitors will perform at the first Golden Pirouette in Sisak, including the promising Croatian sports pair Lana Petranović and Antonio Suza.

Given the poor condition of the Zagreb Sports Hall, it is to be expected that the Zagreb Snowflakes Trophy will be held in Sisak from February 3 to 5, which they are working on intensively.

To follow the latest sports news in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

To learn more about sport in Croatia, CLICK HERE.

December 3, 2019 - The ice skating spectacle 'Golden Spin of Zagreb' will open on Wednesday, December 4, at the Dom Sportova sports hall.

Gol.hr reports that the 52nd edition of the Golden Spin of Zagreb will be held from December 4 to 7, 2019. Not only will there be more than 200 ice skaters from 38 countries, but many Olympic, world and European medal winners will be reunited.

"There will be 29 female skaters, 27 male skaters, and 24 sports couples and 14 dance couples on the ice in the sports hall, and this year's ISU Challenger Series competition will feature senior skaters, including 27 female skaters, 8 male skaters, 20 dance and 5 sports couples. 

We will also have a chance to see a big clash between two great Russian women, current European champion Sofia Samodurova and former champion of the world and Europe, Yelizaveta Tuktamisheva. American Jason Brown is coming to defend last year's victory, and special attention will be paid to Ksenia Stolbova, the 2014 Olympic winner of Sochi, who recently has a new partner, Andrei Novoselov, in pairs,” revealed competition director Melita Juratek Cipek.

Croatia will have several representatives this year. In the senior pairs competition, Lana Petranović and Antonio Souza Kordeiru will perform. In the junior competition, Croatia will be represented by Hana Cvijanović, Hana Kosić, Stella Ristić, Luce Stipaničev, Lorena Čižmek and Charles Henry Katanović.

"So many juniors show that we have a future, and I am especially pleased to be breaking records this year when the Croatian Skating Federation celebrates 80 years since its inception," said HKS president Morana Palikovic Gruden.

Croatia's best junior, Hana Cvijanović, who celebrated her 17th birthday on Monday, is particularly looking forward to performing.

"I am excited, always nervous; nevertheless, it is the biggest competition in front of a Croatian audience. I hope to skate my programs best this season and meet the standard for the World Junior Championships. It would be an ideal birthday present,” Hannah wished.

Lana Petranović and Antonio Souza-Kordeiru will compete for the first time after an eight-month break.

"We are happy to be in Zagreb again. This is our first competition after my second knee surgery. The difficult preparations are behind us, and the difficult rehabilitation, but we hope to show ourselves in the best possible light to our audience," said Lana Petranović.

The ice skating spectacle begins on Wednesday, December 4, at 3 pm, with the opening ceremony scheduled at 5:30 pm. Like in the previous years, this Golden Spin will close with a grand show of the winners on Saturday, December 7, at 8 pm.

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page.