Figure skating-Fournier Beaudry, Cizeron make Olympic statement with sizzling European victory

SHEFFIELD, England, Jan 17 : Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron of France stamped themselves as Olympic contenders on Saturday, capturing their first European ice dance title with a commanding performance in their final tune-up before the Games.

In just their fourth international appearance since teaming up last March, the duo delivered a breathtaking lyrical free dance to the soundtrack from "The Whale" for a season's best score of 135.50 points that left little doubt they will be in the hunt for gold next month.

Fournier Beaudry, a Montreal native who received French citizenship in November, and Cizeron, the reigning Olympic champion with longtime previous partner Gabriella Papadakis, scored 222.43 total points.

Three-time defending champions Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri of Italy, third after the short dance, finished second with 210.34.

Britain's Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson had the crowd roaring with their energetic programme to "The Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond", "Auld Lang Syne", and The Proclaimers hit "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)".

But they lost precious points with a huge blunder on their twizzles - side-by-side spins that travel across the ice - to fall to third with 209.51.

Earlier on Saturday, Georgia's Nika Egadze delivered the performance of his career, landing four quadruple jumps to run away with the men's title and leave a mistake-ridden field far behind. 

The 23-year-old carved through a pressure-packed free skate with remarkable composure, turning what was expected to be a tight showdown into a commanding victory in the final international event for Olympic-bound European skaters ahead of the Milano Cortina Games.

Skating to Sail by Awolnation, he scored 181.72 points and 273.00 overall for