Russian Yevgenia Medvedeva took magnificent first steps toward becoming the first repeat women’s world figure skating champion since 2001, topping the short program with a near-record score in Helsinki on Wednesday.
The 17-year-old tallied 79.01 points skating clean, highlighted by a triple flip-triple toe loop jump combination. She leads by 3.03 points over Canadian Kaetlyn Osmond heading into Friday’s free skate.
U.S. champion Karen Chen is in fifth after the best short of her international career — 69.98 points.
Chen is two spots ahead of 2016 World silver medalist Ashley Wagner, who skated a clean short for 69.