Lambiel Lights It Up for World Title

On one of his sport’s grandest stages, Stephane Lambiel of Switzerland won a major competition for the first time.

He won the gold medal at figure skating’s world championships Thursday, capitalizing on the withdrawal of defending champion Evgeni Plushenko. The three-time champion dropped out hours before Thursday’s free skate because of a groin injury.

“I felt so good and so light,” Lambiel said.

For the most part, Lambiel had an assured program that was full of flair. He finished ahead of Jeffrey Buttle of Canada, and Evan Lysacek of the United States, at the worlds for the first time, won the bronze medal. U.S. champion Johnny Weir, his foot ailing, entered the free skate in seventh place and rallied to fourth.

“More than anything else I’m just proud of myself that I got through all three phases of the competition,” Weir said. “I didn’t totally embarrass myself or disappoint myself, and I think now I’m finally a true champion.”

Lambiel’s free skate started inauspiciously -- his planned opening triple axel deteriorated into a single, and at the end he was off his music, skating for at least 10 seconds in silence. In between he landed two clean quads along with a triple salchow-double toe combination that counted highly because it came late in the program.

Buttle’s goal was to finish in the top six, and he said he was surprised at the result. Lysacek, who works out at HealthSouth Training Center in El Segundo, echoed the sentiment after his skate.

“I’m a little bit shocked,” he said.

Lysacek didn’t try a quad, and he had a step-out and a hand-down on other jumps. But he exploited the International Skating Union’s new scoring system that rewards jump combinations and tough jumps late in the routine, landing a triple lutz as his last jump.

“I think the new system is really good and it’s pushing skaters,” he said. “Now it’s more reflective of who the best skaters are.”

Plushenko clearly was not at his best, falling on his short program’s opening quad toe loop. But although he was third in the standings after the short program, he was only seven points behind Lambiel -- and Plushenko, who usually was cool under pressure, could have made up that gap in better physical condition.

His withdrawal ended Russian chances for a sweep of the titles on home ice.