Medvedeva retains women’s world figure skating gold
HELSINKI >> With less than a year to go until the Olympics, figure skating star Evgenia Medvedeva looks unbeatable.
On Friday, she didn’t just secure a second consecutive world title, she did it with a new world record and finished 15 points ahead of her closest rival.
Unbeaten since November 2015, the 17-year-old Russian is formidably consistent. Despite the aura of invincibility that comes with her dominance, Medvedeva said her final skate pushed her to the limit of her “emotional strength.”
“There were a lot of doubtful moments where I was right on the edge of a collapse,” she said. Toward the end, “you’re skating and thinking, ‘When will this be over?”’
Medvedeva admitted to sometimes struggling with distracting thoughts she compares to “bugs in my head, scratching,” adding: “Sometimes they try to put you off and you have to cope with it, and I managed to do that today.”
Medvedeva’s free program ended with an expression of despair as her character learned she lost a loved one. That quickly turned to a broad grin of satisfaction with another impeccable skate, and a new record score of 233.41 points.
Medvedeva’s success in winning consecutive titles bucks a recent trend for Russian skating stars to burn out after a major championship success. Both the 2014 Olympic champion Adelina Sotnikova and 2015 world champion Elizaveta Tuktamysheva struggled to recapture the form that took them to their greatest successes.
Medvedeva insists she doesn’t mind the spotlight that will come with being the favorite for the Pyeongchang Olympics — and the star of a Russian Olympic team which has faced repeated scandals.
“I’ll feel that people support me and that will give me strength. I really hope for that,” she said, though she also said she tries “never to think about” the games.
Canadian skaters left with silver and bronze as Kaetlyn Osmond took second place with 218.13 points, and Gabrielle Daleman was third with 213.52.
NASCAR: Rain gives Larson pole
MARTINSVILLE,VA.>> Things keep going right for Kyle Larson.
Hours after saying he hoped qualifying for Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race would be rained out, he got his wish, giving him the pole position on a track where he has struggled.
“I think it will be a good advantage to start on the pole, get the jump and hopefully take care of my stuff early,” said Larson, the early season points leader.
With the lineup set by owner points because of the rain, Chase Elliott will start on the outside of the front row, with Martin Truex Jr. and Brad Keselowski in the second row. The rest of the top 10 includes Joey Logano, Jamie McMurray, Ryan Blaney, Clint Bowyer, Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch.
Larson, who had three consecutive second-place finishes before winning last weekend at Fontana, California, posted the thirdfastest time in Friday’s first practice session, trailing only former winners Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch.
Track: Oldfield, brash shot put star, dies at 71
Brian Oldfield, the brash, bearish shot put star who helped popularize the spin technique, has died. He was 71.
He died Sunday in his hometown of Elgin, Illinois, USA Track and Field said on its website.
Oldfield was the first to throw the shot put over 72 feet, and he kept building on that mark. He was also the first to reach 73, 74 and 75 feet. His 75-foot throw in 1975 still ranks fourth in the world. He finished sixth in the shot put in the 1972 Olympics.
Oldfield was 6-foot-5 and about 275 pounds during his prime. He had long hair and occasionally smoked cigarettes between throws and once told Sports Illustrated that “When God invented man, he wanted him to look like me.”