Patrick Chan wins silver at worlds

carwing

Two small errors in his free skate likely cost Patrick Chan a goldmedal Thursday night at the world figure skating championships in LosAngeles.
, D7 C$ ~% F* ?: ZToronto's Chan finished second behind American Evan Lysacek and just ahead of France's Brian Joubert, who took home the bronze.7 o( U" ~, d3 B: O4 o8 E8 l) ]2 t
Chan's silver marks the second year in a row Canada has medalled inthe men's event. Jeffrey Buttle of Smooth Rock Falls, Ont., won goldlast year.
$ R2 \2 E) R: e公仔箱論壇"Jeez, I thought I was just going to walk home with a bronze, but towin a silver medal is just like icing on the cake," Chan said afterwatching Joubert fall twice during his free skate.www.tvboxnow.com! Y" |1 f  {- b& n  j6 H
"Getting off the ice, I had a huge smile on my face because I justdidn't expect to be where I am now after just my second worlds, and I'monly 18. It's a big shock. It's going to be weird going back to highschool, because I have to be a regular guy again."
9 p8 w6 [/ o$ ]3 i! E. i- x$ K Small mistakes proved costly Skatingto music by Sergei Rachmaninoff, Chan made two errors in his free-skateprogram, turning a planned double toe loop into a single, and doublinga planned triple loop. The mistakes only cost him about four points inhis score, but with the top three skaters so tightly bunched, there wasno room for error.1 p/ g4 z" |+ h
Chan was third after the short program, in which many people feltthe judges short-changed the Canadian in his marks. However, there wereno surprised looks or jeers from the crowd about his marks in the freeskate.9 O) R9 Q9 {5 q" `
Lysacek turned in the skate of his life for the gold, scoring 159.53 for his long routine, 4½ points ahead of Chan's 155.03.
9 l) ~) ~6 j4 p+ o# b4 F"I've been looking forward to this event for the last few years,ever since I found out it was coming to the Staples Center," Lysaceksaid. "I think that nervous energy was a positive for me, because Iturned it into adrenalin."( x, q2 S6 s1 S# C
Chan was ninth in his world championship debut last year in Sweden,but with Buttle's retirement and Chan's spectacular season heading intoL.A., the young skater found himself a favourite.
1 Q8 A9 i" ?' O4 \, O( E3 n' Z# }He opened the season with a pair of Grand Prix victories, won theCanadian championships and then dominated a strong field to win the ISUFour Continents event last year in Vancouver.www.tvboxnow.com, H( C2 e- y, O
This week, Chan found himself in the spotlight off-ice, when Joubertcriticized all the male skaters who don't have a quad jump in theirrepertoire.