Figure skating - Medvedeva on track to emulate Kwan

Figure Skating - ISU World Championships 2017 - Ladies Short Program - Helsinki, Finland - 29/3/17 - Evgenia Medvedeva of Russia competes. REUTERS/Grigory Dukor

HELSINKI (Reuters) - A nerveless and haunting short programme by Evgenia Medvedeva kept the Russian teenager on track to become the first skater since American Michelle Kwan in 2001 to win back-to-back women's titles at the world championships on Wednesday.

While Medvedeva was the shining light in a high-quality women's contest, the pairs competition turned into a survival of the fittest as Eric Radford's hip-muscle injury effectively ended his hopes of claiming a hat-trick of world titles with Meagan Duhamel.