 Evgeni Plushenko captured the gold medal that has eluded him |
Russian figure skater Evgeni Plushenko scored a personal best of 167.67 points in the men's free programme to take gold with a near-flawless performance. Building on his 90.66 points from the short programme, three-time world champion Plushenko, 23, finished a superb 27.12 points clear of the field.
Swiss world champion Stephane Lambiel, 21, took the silver medal with a total score of 231.21 points.
Canada's Jeffrey Buttle improved from sixth in the free to take bronze.
American Evan Lysacek hauled himself up from 10th in the short programme to take fourth with a total of 220.13, narrowly ahead of his countryman Johnny Weir on 216.63.
French champion Brian Joubert, the only man to beat Plushenko in the last two years, came sixth with a total of 212.89.
MMIX
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