Ukraine, Spain and Estonia each won their first gold medals at the 2025 Winter European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF) during a stunning day on the slopes in Bakuriani.
While France again added to their impressive medal haul through Aono Pordie Okaniwa’s victory in the Girls’ Snowboard Slopestyle, day three in Georgia saw the medals spread widely across the competing countries.
Nineteen of the 45 competing countries have now taken their place on the podium, including Spain, who saw Unai Lopez Sousa move from fourth after his first effort in the Boys’ Snowboard Slopestyle to the gold medal position with a stunning jump scoring 92.25.
Sousa was delighted with his efforts, finishing ahead of Luka Kamissek (Germany) and Lenny Collomb Paton (France) in the silver and bronze positions.
He said: “This means a lot for me and I am lucky enough to be the first Spaniard to finish first in this competition.”
The morning action on the Didveli course saw the Girls’ and Boys’ Freeski Slopestyle Finals. Estonia’s Simona Revjagin was first after the opening round and further cemented her spot at the time of the leaderboard with a score of 86 from her second effort.
Denmark’s Silje Kinkead won the silver medal and Great Britain’s Sandra Caune the bronze, before Revjagin revealed it was her first ever gold medal in competition.
Revjagin said: “I am super stoked. It’s my first ever gold medal and I landed my run perfectly. I’m so happy to be here and now I have a gold medal. I have done this sport since I was little and now I am here, I am so happy!”
Tricky conditions in the Boys’ Freeski Slopestyle saw only two of the 12 finalists complete their second jumps, but that did not prove an issue for Swiss star Viktor Alexander Maksyagin following a score of 90 first time around.
Austria’s Benjamin Lengger made the most of his second jump to move into second with a score of 88.50, just one point ahead of Sweden’s Victor Knutsen in the bronze medal position.
Ukraine’s success came courtesy of Viktoriia Khvostenko and Taras Tarasiuk in the biathlon mixed relay. They finished ahead Czechia in the silver position and Switzerland in bronze.
In Tbilisi, the Boys’ Ice Hockey competition began with two games. The first saw Slovakia beat Latvia 3-2 before Czechia scored three goals in the third period to beat Switzerland 4-2 in their opening match.
The figure skating began in Batumi with the Girls’ and Boys Short Program, before the Free Skating Finals take place on Thursday and Friday respectively. Estonia’s Elina Goidina leads the Girls’ competition and Ukraine’s Yehor Kurtsev the Boys’.
