Olympic 2018 Results: Live Updating Medal Count for Thursday

Scheduling changes at the Winter Olympics bumped up the highly anticipated encounter between Lindsey Vonn and Mikaela Shiffrin.

Officials moved the Alpine combined skiing, originally scheduled for Friday (Thursday night Eastern time) in Pyeongchang, South Korea, up a day because of wind conditions. While the upcoming schedule lost its main attraction, another marquee showdown still headlines Thursday night's slate.

Following remarkable performances in the short program, Alina Zagitova and Evgenia Medvedeva will compete for gold in the free skate at Gangneung Ice Arena.

As the Olympics reach the finish line, see which countries stand atop the leaderboard by following the updated medal count.

Free Skate Preview

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Medvedeva set a new world record by scoring 81.06 in Wednesday's (local time) short program. Liz Clarke of the Washington Post marveled at her exemplary performance:

She had mere minutes to celebrate, though. Stepping onto the ice two skaters later, Zagitova broke the milestone with an 82.92 tally.

The duo's dominance should come as no surprise following the team event, during which Medvedeva and Zagitova won the short program and free skate, respectively, by wide margins.

Although Canada's Kaetlyn Osmond remains in striking distance with 78.87 points, the Russian athletes look poised to jostle for gold and silver.

Per NBCOlympics.com's Rachel Lutz, Zagitova does not fixate on keeping pace with Medvedeva.

"I try not to think about that (competition between them) and I try to focus just on myself," Zagitova said. "I don’t go out there to prove something to someone. I just want to skate clean for myself."

Either teenage star might need another world record to overcome the other for gold.

An American woman, meanwhile, has not claimed figure-skating gold since Sarah Hughes in 2002. That drought will almost certainly leave Pyeongchang intact, as the United States trio of Mirai Nagasu, Karen Chen and Bradie Tennell respectively placed ninth, 10th and 11th in the short program.

The top contender of the group, Nagasu's medal chances tumbled when falling on an attempted triple axel. As shown by NBC Olympics, she recovered to preserve a solid finish:

Courtesy of NBC's Nick McCarvel, the competitor offered a bittersweet assessment of her unsuccessful risk:

Eight years ago, a 16-year-old Nagasu finished fourth in the single skating competition at the Vancouver Games. While she could move up a couple spots on the leaderboard, the 2008 U.S. champion is unlikely to make up enough ground to push Osmond off the podium.

She did, however, finish second behind Zagitova in the team event's free skate to help the U.S. earn bronze. The 24-year-old can at least end her Olympic comeback on a high note.