Injured Medvedeva hit ‘hard’ by missing worlds

MOSCOW: Russia’s figure skating star Yevgenia Medvedeva said Thursday her withdrawal from next week’s world championships had hit her “hard”.

The two-time world champion will miss her clash with compatriot Alina Zagitova in Milan after a recurrence of the right foot injury that sidelined her for two months late last year.“Pulling out of a competition is always a hard time for me,” the 18-year-old told Russian TV on Thursday.

“It’s not the first event that I’ve missed this year. But it will be much more difficult (for me) to sit on the sofa and watch it all on television. “The decision has been taken because of the health reasons. Doctor said I need to recover for another couple of months.”

Medvedeva will miss her rematch with Zagitova, who beat her to gold at last month’s Olympic Games in Pyeongchang.Her foot problem forced her out of December’s Grand Prix Finals, wno by Zagitova.