By RYAN LUCAS
The Associated Press
Sunday, January 28, 2007; 12:05 PM
WARSAW, Poland -- Brian Joubert kept his perfect season rolling by winning the European figure skating title, establishing himself as a contender for the gold at the world championships.
With Olympic gold medalist Evgeni Plushenko and two-time world champion Stephane Lambiel out, Joubert got all the attention and all the pressure.
The 22-year-old Frenchman trailed after the short program but nailed a quadruple toe loop and seven triples in the free skate, pushing him 15 points ahead of silver medalist Tomas Verner of the Czech Republic.
At worlds, Joubert is planning to do three quads.
"I have to do everything, I have to do it," he said. "The world championships will be hard, but I want to give my best. I'm not the world champion, so I don't have pressure for this competition."
Joubert's prepared to challenge new U.S. champion Evan Lysacek and the Japanese skaters at the March 19-25 worlds in Tokyo.
For the women, Carolina Kostner's back after tearing a ligament in her left ankle in September.
In her first competition since the injury, Kostner nailed a triple flip, triple toe, double loop combination to open her "Memoirs of a Geisha" program. She hit six triples in all to pass Sarah Meier of Switzerland for the gold, becoming the first Italian to win the title.
Next up, challenging new U.S. champion and defending world champion Kimmie Meissner at the Tokyo worlds.
Despite silvers in pairs and ice dancing, traditional powerhouse Russia struggled after gold-medal sweeps in 2005 and 2006.
But all those champions _ Irina Slutskaya, Plushenko, pairs Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin and ice dancers Tatiana Navka and Roman Kostomarov _ were missing this year.
Their absence, coupled with disappointing performances from Russia's solo skaters, left Russia without a medal in the men's or women's event for the first time since 1993.
Joubert, routinely beaten by Plushenko in recent years, said he's not worried about Russia's skating program.
"There are many young Russian skaters," he said. "They are learning, and I think they will be dangerous and will be on the podium next year.