Medvedeva heads skating stars in Moscow as Pyeongchang looms

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Russian ice skating queen Evgenia Medvedeva leads an all-star cast at this week's European championships which carry special significance with the Olympics barely more than a triple axel away.

The PyeongChang Games start in just over three weeks and two-time world champion Medvedeva will be out to press home her claims on the women's Olympic title that has been left vacant after the season-ending injury that ruled out 2014 champion Adelina Sotnikova.

Spaniard Javier Fernandez goes for his sixth straight men's European title in Moscow ahead of his last shot at Olympic glory after he narrowly missed the podium four years ago at the Sochi Games.

In pairs, local hopes Yevgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov aim to defend their title while record-breaking French duo Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron are set to dazzle in the ice dance.

Evgenia Medvedeva of Russia wipes sweat off her face as she waits for her results after her performance in the women's singles free skating event in the NHK Trophy figure skating competition in Osaka, November 11, 2017. /VCG Photo

Medvedeva is unbeaten since 2015 but is recovering from a broken foot which ruled her out of the Grand Prix finals and Russian nationals.

"Evgenia is training at full strength," Russian figure skating chief Alexander Gorshkov told TASS.

"She is fully focused on her preparation for the European Championships and other forthcoming competitions. She has almost recovered from the injury. Taking into account her character and tenacity, we hope she will come back to the ice in excellent shape."

With Russia under an Olympic ban for state-sponsored doping, Medvedeva is expected to be among a group of Russians approved to compete in PyeongChang as independents under the name "Olympic Athlete from Russia".

Source(s): AFP