MILAN, Italy, Feb 16, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Germany's Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin grabbed the lead after the short programme in the Olympic figure skating pairs on Sunday after a masterful tango.

The German duo scored a personal-best 80.01 points for their high-flying routine while favourites Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara of Japan were down in fifth place with 73.11.

Georgia's Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava (75.46) were second, narrowly ahead of Canada's Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud (74.60) going into Monday's free skate.

The Germans hit all the right notes after a slight wobble at the start of a powerful and fast-moving tango that wowed the judges.

"I thought to myself, don't make another mistake now," said Hase. "We controlled everything well after that. Sometimes little stumbles happen, I tried to cover it up well.

"We were happy about the pirouette, finally together, and then we just had to keep going."

"We're putting all the Olympics and stress and everything else out of our minds and just focusing on the next round," added Hase, who finished 16th at the Beijing Olympics with another partner.

Russian-born Volodin teamed up with Hase in 2022 and received German citizenship last year. The pair are world silver medallists behind the Japanese.

Two days after an evening of drama in the men's competition, the Milan ice rink witnessed further surprises with unexpected errors from the favourites.

Miura and Kihara, two-time world champions and winners of the Grand Prix Final in December, were penalised for a hesitant lift midway through their programme to "Paint it Black".

Miura, 24, and 33-year-old Kihara had won team silver for the second consecutive Olympics earlier in the Games.

"I had a mistake in the lift but after that I basically had a good performance," said Miura. "The important thing is not points, it is doing our best."

Defending Olympic champions Sui Wenjing and Han Cong are in sixth position after scoring 72.66.

The Chinese pair returned to competition this season after retiring following their Olympic triumph in Beijing four years ago.

They lost points after Sui touched the ice with her hand on a jump in their routine to an acoustic guitar arrangement of "Habanera" from Georges Bizet's opera Carmen.

Italy's Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii are eighth, having helped their country to bronze in the team event.

Canadian pair Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps slumped to 14th after she fell during their programme.

At 42, Stellato-Dudek is the oldest woman to compete in an Olympic figure skating event since Britain's Ethel Muckelt in 1928.

The 2024 world champions had been uncertain to compete after she suffered concussion days before arriving in Milan.

Japan's Yuna Nagaoka and Sumitada Moriguchi failed to qualify for the free skate after she fell twice in their routine to "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road".