Changing strategy in the air, Irina Slutskaya realized she was not heading for a clean landing from a triple lutz, and added a double toe loop instead of her planned double loop.

	Irina Slutskaya of Russia is seeking her fourth European title as she heads into the free skate with the lead.

"It doesn't matter if it was a toe or a loop. It was a clean combination," Slutskaya said.

The missed combination - which she has hit as a triple-triple in competition - is the most difficult performed by any woman, giving Slutskaya a technical edge when she meets top international competition such as Kwan. But the defending European champion didn't need it here after the much-touted Russian rivalry fizzled with Maria Butyrskaya's heavy fall on a triple flip.

On track to claim her fourth European title, Slutskaya gave one of just six clean programs in the field of 30 competitors, earning marks of 5.6 to 5.9.

The other Russian, Victoria Volchkova, was in third place going into Saturday's final free dance, putting the country in position to sweep the women's medals for the third straight year.

Slutskaya and Kwan are shaping up to be the main attraction at the world championships in Vancouver, Canada March 18-25.

Slutskaya won her first European title in 1996 at 16. But there have been rough years in between. She lost her European title in 1998 to Butyrskaya and came in second to Kwan at the worlds that year. Then a disastrous fourth place finish in Russian nationals took her out of international competition in 1999.

She got married in the off year, lost weight and came back strong in 2000, winning the Europeans and finishing a close second to Kwan at worlds.

An Italian couple for the first time won a European ice dance title, helped by a rare and stunning fall by the defending European and world champions Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat of France. Russians Irinia Lobacheva and Ilia Averbukh were third.

Fusar Poli and Maurizo Margaglio of Italy skated a modern Romeo and Juliet with an urban edge, earning mostly 5.8s and 5.9s.

"We were really comfortable on the ice. We pushed from the start to the end. We decided not to wait but to start with energy," Margaglio said.

Still, the judges' marks left room for the French to retain the title.

They skated strongly until the final seconds of their free dance to the rock opera "Beethoven's Last Night," when Peizerat fell backward on a turn. Anissina tumbled over him and they slid stunned across the ice before recovering. They picked up the program, but finished behind the music.

"It's a great lesson for us to understand the value of 10 seconds in life and the value of a few centimeters," Peizerat said.