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Lysacek takes first world title

Source: Agencies | March 28, 2009, Saturday | Print Edition

AMERICAN Evan Lysacek delighted a partisan home crowd with an emphatic free skate to capture his first men's world championship title in Los Angeles on Thursday.

Celebrating before he had even finished his routine, Lysacek wowed the judges to record a top score of 159.53 and complete the competition with a 242.23 total, well ahead of Canadian silver medalist Patrick Chan, who scored 237.58.

Brian Joubert had led following Wednesday's short program but the 2007 champion seemed to wilt under the pressure of skating after Lysacek and an early stumble was proceeded by a fall, leaving the Frenchman having to settle for bronze.

"Winning the title hasn't sunk in yet," the Chicago-born Lysacek said. "Tonight I wasn't thinking about winning or medaling, I just wanted to skate well in front of my (adopted) hometown crowd. The nervous energy was a positive; I turned it into good energy tonight."

Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto also gave home fans plenty to cheer earlier on Thursday, the Americans taking top honors in original dance with a season-best score of 65.16, inching closer to overall leaders Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin of Russia.

Domnina and Shabalin finished second but retain a slim overall lead of 105.45 to 104.81, setting up an intriguing showdown between the two couples in the free dance finale.

"This is what we've been working for," said Agosto, who has been out for much of the year with a back injury. "This is only the beginning."

Canadians Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir lie a distant third on 100.42 after a disappointing program that was only ranked sixth best by the judges.

The 23-year-old Lysacek had been overshadowed coming into the event by a verbal dispute between Joubert and teenage sensation Chan earlier in the week.

However, the American had the final say in the free skate with a program that combined power, grace and a fair amount of emotion.

"I kept telling myself not to get too excited with each element," said Lysacek, who began the program with a flawless triple toe-loop and appeared to grow in confidence as his routine progressed. "I've been looking forward to this since I knew it was coming (here)."

Tomas Verner of the Czech Republic finished fourth on 231.71, while Italian Samuel Contesti entertained the crowd with a Wild West rendition to take fifth place on 226.97.
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