LOS ANGELES (AP) - Evan Lysacek was flawless in winning the World Figure Skating Championship. His American teammates not so much.
U.S. national champion Jeremy Abbott turned in a mistake-prone performance and finished 11th. Brandon Mroz also struggled in Thursday night’s free skate and was ninth.
But thanks to Lysacek becoming the first American in 13 years to win the world crown, the U.S. clinched three spots for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
Abbott, a 23-year-old from Colorado Springs, Colo., stepped out of his first triple axel, then singled an intended double axel at the end and popped it.
“I’ve been struggling with it all week,” he said. “I just had to push through it.”
Abbott finished 10th in the free skate.
“I really didn’t feel that the mistakes I made were great enough to justify my scores,” he said. “It certainly wasn’t my greatest, but I’m proud of my effort. I didn’t feel any pressure.”
Mroz landed a quad toe, but stepped out of it for one of five deductions and ran out of power at the end. The 18-year-old from St. Louis was 13th in the free skate at his first senior world championships.
“The nerves were blocking me a bit, but I just tried to push through and do the best I could,” he said. “Everybody gets better from knowledge, and I can only take it and apply it to next season in the Olympic year.”
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ICE KISS:@ Denis Ten of Kazakhstan took a big glide forward in his burgeoning career.
The 15-year-old skater finished sixth in Thursday’s free skate with a season-best score of 142.89, easily surpassing his previous high mark of 123.50. Ten made a huge move up in the standings after being 17th in Wednesday’s short program.
He wound up eighth overall.
“It was the best performance of my life so far,” he said. “Now I have to build from there and continue to develop. Hopefully, I’ll be the first skater from Kazakhstan to qualify for the Olympic Games.”
Ten leaned down and kissed the ice at the end of his routine before rising to acknowledge the crowd’s standing ovation.
“I wanted to thank this ice,” he said. “I was able to experience something at my young age that many skaters never experience in their career.”
The youngest male skater competing this week successfully pulled off eight triple jumps and showed good speed throughout while completing a clean program in his worlds debut.
Ten is the first skater from his country to medal at an ISU competition, earning gold at last year’s Junior Grand Prix. His fourth-place finish at this year’s World Junior Championships is the best result Kazakhstan has ever had.
Ten, a descendent of famed Korean General Min Keung Ho, is part of the Korean minority living in Kazakhstan. He splits his time between his hometown of Almaty and Moscow, where he sought improved practice conditions.
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HALL OF FAMERS:@ Two-time Olympic silver medalist Brian Orser is among the newest inductees into the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame.
The 2009 class will be honored Saturday.
Orser was runner-up to Scott Hamilton at the 1984 Olympics and Brian Boitano at the 1988 games, where they famously dueled in the “Battle of the Brians.” Orser was the 1987 world champion.
The Canadian skater toured with “Stars on Ice” for 17 years, and now works as a coach and choreographer.
“I am honored to be among these very important people and to be among such great company,” Orser said. “My friends and family are very proud.”
Joining Orser in the competitors category are Aja Vrzanova of the Czech Republic and Canadian pairs duo Barbara Underhill and Paul Martini.
Vrzanova, a two-time world champion in 1949 and 1950, is credited as the first woman to land a double lutz in competition.
Underhill and Martini were world pairs champions in 1984.
The hall of fame is located in Colorado Springs, Colo.
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