Russia maintained its superiority in the pairs event when Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin skated to gold at the European Championships at Lausanne, Switzerland, on Wednesday.

　　Skating to Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story, the Russian pair, last year's silver medallists, overcame a shaky start to win the title. Russia have now won the gold medal every year since 1996.

　　France's Sarah Abitbol and Stephane Bernadis, who have had five bronzes in the last six year, beating Maria Petrova and Alexei Tikhonov to prevent a Russian one-two.

　　Last year's champions Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze did not defend their title after Berezhnaya decided to rest an ankle injury ahead of next month's Winter Olympics.