Weir takes home the bronze

Figure skaters always say the performance matters more than the result, because the judging is out of their hands.

This time, Johnny Weir’s performance wasn’t memorable, but the result mattered plenty to him and his country.

In a free skate where one top contender unraveled and two others had repeated flaws, Weir’s conservative but relatively error-free skating won the bronze medal Saturday at the World Figure Skating Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Jeffrey Buttle, rebounding from two subpar seasons and a defeat in the Canadian Championships. became the first Canadian man to win the title since Elvis Stojko in 1997.

Buttle won the free skate as easily as he had won the short program and was the only man to do two outstanding programs.

France’s Brian Joubert, the 2007 champion, rallied from sixth in the short program to take the silver.

After losing the U.S. title on a tie-breaker to Evan Lysacek, who withdrew from worlds because of an injury, Weir came to Sweden with a resolute confidence, but his free skate lacked the flair that has made him one of the most captivating athletes in the sport.

Combined with a solid if unremarkable performance by Stephen Carriere, finishing 10th in his world debut despite a fall in the free skate, Weir’s finish gave the United States three men’s places at the 2009 World Championships in Los Angeles.

Weir also prevented the United States from going without a world medal for the first time since 1994.

It was the first world medal for Weir, who was eighth last year. His previous best was fourth in 2005.

Weir, U.S. champion from 2004 through 2006, had slumped badly in 2007, then decided a change of coach and scenery were necessary for him to return to the highest level of the sport.

Weir was second in the short program but his free skate had the same lack of audacity that cost him the U.S. title this year. He did no triple-triple combinations, and his quadruple jump was downgraded to a double.

“It was not my strongest performance, but I am proud to bring back the only medal for the USA,” Weir said.

“I was a giant bundle of nerves. When I got ready to get on the ice my entire body was trembling. Two years ago, I definitely would have fallen apart. I tried to be as spectacular as possible.”

That made no difference because two-time world champion Stephane Lambiel of Switzerland slopped around, Daisuke Takahashi of Japan fell on one jump and European champion Tomas Verner of the Czech Republic fell completely apart, finishing 20th in the free skate.

Takahashi wound up fourth and Lambiel fifth.

Verner’s collapse turned out to be what the U.S. needed to have its top 2 finishes add up to 13 or fewer, keeping three world places.

Philip Hersh covers Olympic sports for The Times and the Chicago Tribune.