Weir Wins Figure Skating Gold at the Cup of Russia

Johnny Weir of the United States won the gold medal at the Cup of Russia in Moscow yesterday with a program less adventurous but more successful than the one by Stephane Lambiel of Switzerland, the two-time world champion.

Kim Yu-na of South Korea won her second Grand Prix of the season with a precise and passionate free skate, and Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao of China took their second gold medal in two weeks in pairs.

Yuko Kawaguchi and Alexander Smirnov of Russia completed a quad throw salchow, only the second time the jump has been accomplished in International Skating Union competition, but finished with bronze behind Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy of Germany.

Weir was less than half a point behind Lambiel going into the free program and ended more than 11 points ahead. That gave him his second Grand Prix gold of the year and a berth in the Grand Prix final.

In the absence of a quad, Weir relied on consistency in his free skate, hitting all of his jumps with assurance, including the opening triple axel-triple toe loop.

Weir, who has developed a huge and vocal following among young Russian women, said he was boosted by the crowd reaction.

"It was like a royal welcome," he said.

Skating to the soundtrack of "Miss Saigon," Kim opened with a triple flip-triple toe combination and didn't show even minor faltering until her triple lutz, when she landed with a wobble. She sat into her subsequent triple salchow slightly, but recovered her form and had a late-program double axel. Earlier, she made a double axel-triple toe combination.

Yukari Nakano of Japan won silver in the women's competition, and Joannie Rochette of Canada moved from fifth place after the short program to win bronze.

¿ ALPINE SKIING: Canada's Jan Hudec won the first downhill of the men's World Cup season, making a big comeback from three knee operations before a home crowd at Lake Louise, Alberta.

He was timed in 1 minute 42.79 seconds and was followed by Marco Sullivan of the United States in 1:43.03 and Andreas Buder of Austria in 1:43.13.

Hudec won the downhill silver medal at the 2006 world championships, but this was his first top three finish on the World Cup circuit. He is the first Canadian to win the men's downhill at Lake Louise.

"I was pretty down and out there for a while having three knee surgeries," Hudec said. "To come back after all that has truly been a huge blessing." . . .

Italy's Denise Karbon won her second consecutive women's World Cup giant slalom to open the season at Panorama, B.C.

She had a two-run time of 2:42.71. Austria's Elisabeth Gorgl was second in 2:43.13, and Italy's Manuela Moelgg finished third in 2:43.22.

Karbon, her career derailed by a series of injuries, was fourth after the first run.

¿ CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING: Axel Teichmann and Marit Bjorgen won the season-opening distance races at a World Cup meet in Beitostolen, Norway.

The German covered the men's 15-kilometer freestyle event in 36:31.1, beating runner-up Lukas Bauer of the Czech Republic by 6.3 seconds. Anders Sodergren of Sweden was third, 31.3 seconds back.

Bjorgen won the women's 10-kilometer earlier, beating Vibeke Skofterud by 20.3 seconds. Charlotte Kalla was third in 26:37.5 for her first career podium finish. Bjorgen, a two-time overall champion, finished in 26:16.3 for her 29th World Cup win, but her first in freestyle.

"It feels extra special to win my first freestyle race here," the Norwegian said. "I'm very happy because this was Norway's first [World Cup] freestyle win on the women's side since 2003."