The 79th European figure skating championships were officially opened Wednesday by Slovak President Andrej Kiska.

During the opening ceremony, Kiska underlined his support for "the young generation that is competing in this event and I hope they will live up to the grand names of the previous generations."

The first event after the official opening was the short program for men, with Slovak representative Michael Neuman skating first.

"I am a bit disappointed by my run. I scored 10 points less than my best score this season," Neuman said after his run. He scored 42.02 points on his run after he failed to land his first spin.

The competitions will last until Jan. 31.