Weir rallies to beat Lysacek in China
HARBIN, China -- Americans Johnny Weir and ice dancers Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto rallied for wins at the Cup of China on Saturday.
Weir edged Evan Lysacek of Naperville in a duel between the former and current American champions, earning his first Grand Prix victory since 2004. Belbin and Agosto won in the final free dance, taking advantage of lift penalties by Russians Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin.
South Korean Kim Yu-Na vaulted from third following the short program to take the women's title ahead of American Caroline Zhang, who fell twice.
Weir had eight triples, including a triple axel-triple toeloop combination, tying a personal best of 146.20 points set three years ago.
"It is the first time in a long time that I felt really comfortable on the ice and I think it's due to a new training regimen and just harder work in general," Weir said.
Skating to "Miss Saigon" Kim scored 122.36 points in the free program and 180.68 overall.
Kim hit nearly everything in her routine, only popping a lutz jump. She included a triple-triple and a double axel-triple toe loop combination.
Weir had a nearly perfect long program to "Love is War" by Yoav Goren. He outpointed Lysacek 151.98 to 147.81 in that portion to win 231.78-229.36 overall.
Weir recently moved to New Jersey to train with Galina Zmievskaya, the former coach of 1994 Olympic champion Oksana Baiul. Weir won the national title from 2004-06 before Lysacek took it in January.
Lysacek skated to "Tosca" but fell on his opening quadruple toeloop and followed that with a wobbly triple axel. He did hit seven more triples but his spins were a bit less spectacular than Weir's.
Two-time world champion Stephane Lambiel of Switzerland was a distant third.
In the ice dance, Belbin and Agosto were more than four points behind the Russians, who were penalized for an extra lift.
The Russians final lift also did not count, costing them points under the strict judging system that allows only a certain amount of lifts and spins. That helped Belbin and Agosto gain their second victory after a win at Skate America two weeks ago.
The Russians finished third, and the Americans ended up defeating them 195.11-188.66.
Belbin and Agosto had a romantic free skate to music by Chopin, a contrast to their previous routines that included a tribute to Elvis and the movie 'That's Entertainment." In Friday's original dance, they skated to bluegrass music.
They've qualified for the Grand Prix final in December in Turin, Italy, where they won the Olympic silver medal in 2006.
Injuries have kept them out of the Grand Prix final the last three years. The last time they competed in a GP final was December 2004 in Beijing, when they finished second.
The Trophee Eric Bompard in Paris is next week.