| | NICE, France -- The difference between champion and
challenger surfaced on the opening jumps of the final round of the
men's event at the World Figure Skating Championships
Alexei Yagudin did a quad-triple combination and added another
quad for good measure, sticking to his game plan.
Evgeny Plushenko missed three times on his quad, and he was
out of the medals as he did a meltdown trying to salvage his
routine.
| |  | | | Alexei Yagudin reacts at the end of his program to win the gold medal in the men's competition at the World Figure Skating Championships in Nice, France. |
Yagudin hit two quads when he needed them the most, holding the
lead and winning his third consecutive world championship.
Yagudin's victory was the second straight for Russia at this
championship after the pairs.
Friday, the women have their short program, and Michelle Kwan
found herself trailing two more Russians - Irina Slutskaya, who
beat her in qualifying and the Grand Prix final last January, and
Maria Butyrskaya, who captured the world title over Kwan last year.
In the men's event, Elvis Stojko of Canada, the last three-time
winner, regained the podium with a silver medal, although he fell
on his opening quad. Bronze medalist Michael Weiss touched down
twice and missed his quad.
Weiss, of Fairfax, Va., the two-time American champion, hit only
six triples, touching down on a triple axel - a perfectly
respectable routine in the prequad era not very long ago.
Eight were done in the men's free skate, upping the total to 20
for the competition, six more than last year.
Yagudin started well, landing a quadruple toe, triple toe, then
nailing another quadruple toe on the other end of the ice.
Though the program to Pucini's "Tosca" was wonderfully
expressive - earning seven 5.9s - slight technical flaws could have
been costly.
The title was waiting for Plushenko. But he simply cracked. He
doubled on his first jump - an intended quad - and tripled another
attempt, then started making things up as he went along.
Where he had planned a triple axel, the 17-year-old Plushenko
attempted another quad and went down on both elbows.
Yagudin was watching TV backstage.
"He missed two quads, then I left. I understood I'd won,"
Yagudin said. "I was trying the whole season to be really the
best. And then in 4½ minutes, your season is over."
Weiss, 23, felt he could have done better.
"If I'd gone in and done a better program, at least I might
have pushed Yagudin," Weiss said.
After slamming on the ice on the opening quad, Stojko came back
and hit eight strong triples.
"I think the reason people watch figure skating is you never
know what's going to happen," said Stojko, a three-time world
champion, who slumped to fourth last year. At 28, he is one of the
oldest competitors
The only skater beside Yagudin to hit two quadruples was
American Timothy Goebel, 19, who trains near Cleveland. He did a
quadruple salchow-triple toe loop combination and another quad toe
loop. Bothered by a muscle injury in his left calf, he considered
leaving out the quad toe loop.
Goebel finished 11th - one better than last year.
In the dance event, Italians Barbara Fusar-Poli and Maurizio
Margaglio took a lead with their ballroom-inspired original dance
routine, beating the leading dance pair and home favorites Marina
Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat, who slipped during the mandatory
side-by-side step portion.
Russians Irina Lobacheva and Ilya Averbukh were third going into
today's final free dance, which counts for 50 percent of the final
score.
U.S. champions Naomi Lang and Peter Tchernyshev were eighth and
Jamie Silverstein and Justin Pekarek were 13th in the dance
standings going into the final.
"We were hoping for a lot better, but it makes up for it when
you know you've skated well," Lang said.
Competing at their first world championships, Jamie Silverstein
and Justin Pekarek improved from 14th following the compulsories to
13th going into the final with a flashy cha cha and sensuous rumba.
At 16, Silverstein is the youngest competitor at the worlds.
"We're really delighted," Pekarek said. | |
ALSO SEE
Yagudin wins third world title
Latin rhythms dominate dance competition
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Alexei Yagudin performs at Worlds (Courtesy: ABC Sports)
RealVideo: 56.6
Michael Weiss' short program at Worlds (Courtesy: ABC Sports)
RealVideo: 56.6
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