HELSINKI, Finland — Still just 17 years old, Evgenia Medvedeva already skates like one of the greats, as she made clear by defending her women’s title with steel and grace at the world championships here on Friday night.
But greatness in figure skating traditionally passes through the Olympics. And at this stage, it is not only uncertain whether Medvedeva, a lightly built, hugely gifted Russian, will succeed in extending her remarkable run of dominance to the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea. It is uncertain whether she will even get the chance to compete there.
Russia’s athletics programs rightly remain in the doghouse, and it seemed fitting that Thomas Bach, the International Olympic Committee president, was looking down from the Hartwall Arena stands as Medvedeva won gold and broke her own world records for total points and for points in the free skate.