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Russia's Medvedeva retains World title

Xinhua, April 1, 2017 Adjust font size:

Russia's defending champion Evgenia Medvedeva retained her world title and set new record scores at the 2017 World Figure Skating Championships in Helsinki, Finland, on Saturday. Canada's Kaetlyn Osmond and Gabrielle Daleman took the silver and bronze medals, according to the official website of International Skating Union (ISU).

The World Championships also served as an Olympic qualifier. China only received one Olympic ticket in the women's competition as Li Xiangning ranked 14th and Li Zijun was 21st.

Medvedeva, 17, skated to "Extremly Loud and Incredibly Close", and the two-time European Champion reeled off seven triples including a triple flip-triple toe combination and triple Salchow triple-toe combination plus two double Axels and level-four spins and footwork in her routine.

She achieved a new highest score of 154.40 points, surpassing her previous record score set at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final in December. She totaled 233.41 points, another record score, to win the gold medal.

"I was a little bit nervous in the six minutes warm up, but before my skate I told myself, 'Evgenia, you need to keep calm'. My main goal is just to enjoy my skating and to skate clean. Like last year, I felt absolutely calm, not euphoric (at the end). But I am absolutely thrilled. I did everything I can do and I felt relief," she said.

Osmond opened her program to "La Boheme" with a big triple flip-triple toe combination and then saved the landing on the double Axel-triple toe. The Canadian Champion scored a personal best of 142.15 points and accumulated 218.13 points overall to win her first ISU Championship medal.

Daleman's routine to "Rhapsody in Blue" featured seven triples, only the triple Salchow-double Axel sequence was somewhat shaky. The Four Continents silver medalist improved her personal best significantly with 141.33 points and accumulated 213.52 points to take her first World medal. Endit