Browning Wins, U.S. Men Lose in Skating

Canadian Kurt Browning won his fourth figure skating world championship Thursday, and no American took a medal, costing the United States one spot in next year’s Winter Olympics.

Browning regained the men’s crown at the World Figure Skating Championships, and countryman Elvis Stojko came from well behind to take second at Prague. When Alexei Urmanov of Russia edged out American Mark Mitchell for the bronze, it meant the United States would have only two men’s berths at Lillehammer, Norway, next February.

U.S. champion Scott Davis, in his first world championship event, finished sixth.

The 26-year-old Browning’s program wasn’t as athletically ambitious as it has been, but he scored one perfect 6.0 for artistry.

Russians Maia Usova and Aleksander Zhulin led the ice-dancing competition after the original dance program.