Enlarge By Robert Hanashiro, USA TODAY Evan Lysacek's long program included eight triple jumps as he won the title in his hometown of Los Angeles.  2009 FIGURE SKATING WORLDS Challenge for women: American skaters need to finish 13th or better. Skating chat: Christine Brennan answered your questions. | Interact: Leave a message on Brennan's page Colorado cool: Broadmoor club sends five to worlds team. Photos: The best images from Los Angeles. Daily coverage: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5

Lysacek won his first gold medal at the world figure skating championships Thursday night at Staples Center with a flawless long program, beating out France's Brian Joubert, who fell face-first after a double axel near the end of his program. It was the first gold at the worlds for a U.S. man since 1996.

"I wasn't thinking about winning or medaling. I just wanted to skate well in front of my hometown crowd," Lysacek said. "I love this building. I'm here to cheer on the Lakers and the Kings as much as I can. I think that nervous energy was a positive for me because I turned it into adrenaline."

Lysacek, skating to Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue and wearing a faux tuxedo, finished with a score of 242.23 after eight triple jumps but no quads. Canada's Patrick Chan won the silver (237.58), followed by Joubert (235.97), who landed his quad but was undone by mistakes.

Lysacek, who won bronze medals at the worlds in 2005 and 2006, said after Thursday's skate that he has been dealing with a stress fracture in his left foot.

The USA's Jeremy Abbott struggled with his axels and finished 11th. It is the lowest finish for a U.S. men's national champion at worlds since World War II. Brandon Mroz, skating in his first worlds, finished ninth.

The U.S. secured three spots at the 2010 Winter Games as a result of the placement of its top two finishers.

Women's showdown:

The rivalry between Japan's Mao Asada and South Korea's Kim Yu-Na didn't start at birth. It just seems that way.

Both were born in September 1990, with Kim beating Asada in that race by 20 days. The last four years they have traded titles, establishing themselves, and their rivalry, as the best in the sport. They take center ice when the women's competition begins today.

"These two girls are the best thing for figure skating right now," says Kim's coach, Brian Orser, the Olympic silver medalist from Canada. "And they are bringing the level of skating up.

"Yu-Na's better because of Mao," Orser says. "She tracks every move that girl makes, all year long — where she's skating, when she's skating, what program she's doing, what she's skating to, who's choreographing, who's coaching her now — everything. And I bet you Mao is doing the same thing."

For her part, Asada says watching Kim is good motivation.

In 2005, Asada defeated Kim to win the world junior title. The next year, Kim beat Asada. Neither was old enough to skate at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, but in 2007 they both competed at the senior-level world championships with Asada finishing second and Kim third. Last year at the worlds, Asada won the gold and Kim finished third.

Kim won the 2007 Grand Prix Final, but Asada took the title this season. Last month, Kim beat Asada at the Four Continents Championship. And so it goes.

Both have become icons in their respective countries along the way. The music in Asada's long program, Waltz Masquerade, has become a best-selling CD in Japan, says her Russian coach, Tatiana Tarasova.

Whenever Asada, a shopaholic, goes out, she wears a cap pulled down low because she is recognized everywhere.

Pointing to her ponytail, a dead giveaway, she says, "Everyone knows Mao."

For U.S. fans still waiting for the next great American ice princess to emerge, thankfully there is Asada vs. Kim, perhaps this generation's "Battle of the Brians" heading into the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver. The competition between Orser and the USA's Brian Boitano at the 1988 Olympics is something Kim knows a little bit about. "It's like Mao and me," she says.

Dancers rising:

U.S. ice dancers Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto are in position to make history heading into Friday night's free dance. The five-time U.S. champions won the original dance Thursday and are 0.64 points behind leaders Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin of Russia.

The U.S. has never won a world or Olympic crown.

Pair struggles:

The U.S. will send two pairs to the Vancouver Olympics after Keauna McLaughlin and Rockne Brubaker, the U.S. champs the last two years, had an error-filled long program to finish 11th late Wednesday.

Caydee Denney and Jeremy Barrett shined in their world championship debut with a ninth-place result.

Contributing: Vicki Michaelis