Joubert on target; Weir struggles
CALGARY, Alberta -- Brian Joubert blew into his smoking gun, then raised both arms in triumph.
James Bond had shot down the field last night in the men's short program at the World Figure Skating Championships.
Joubert embodied the suave British agent right down to the 007 stitched on the back of his shirt and the shoot-'em-up mannerisms. It didn't hurt that he did a massive quadruple toe loop-triple toe loop combination and a huge triple axel.
''I had a lot of fun in this program," he said. ''That's the most important to me. And I had a good score. I won, it's good."
The Frenchman's victory ensured a scramble in the free skate tomorrow. Joubert stands third overall behind defending champion Stephane Lambiel of Switzerland and Japanese newcomer Nobunari Oda, even though Lambiel struggled in the short program and wound up fourth.
Lambiel, whose win in a qualifying group Monday provided his overall margin, has 117.64 points. Oda, the 18-year-old in his first senior worlds, was third in the short and has 114.48. Then comes Joubert at 114.36.
''For me, the big part was qualifying. I hate qualifying," said Joubert, a disappointing sixth at the Turin Olympics, where Lambiel won silver behind Evgeni Plushenko of Russia, who is not in Calgary. ''But it was OK to be third, and the short was perfect. And now comes the last program I have to go for this year."
Second in the short program was Canada's Emanuel Sandhu, vaulting him all the way to fifth overall after a poor qualifying. His countryman, Olympic bronze winner Jeffrey Buttle, stood fourth at 107.78 points, 42 ahead of Sandhu.
Three-time American champion Johnny Weir was sixth, followed by 2005 bronze medalist Evan Lysacek. The third American, Matt Savoie, stood 10th overall.
Weir, whose back is bothering him so much he has considered withdrawing ''about every other hour," would have been higher in the standings had he not lost balance on his final combination spin.
''I'm made of stronger stuff than that," said Weir, who was fifth in Turin, when asked about dropping out. ''I'm proving it by skating here."
Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto took a little time out from their busy schedule to go dancing earlier yesterday.
The Olympic silver medalists placed third in the compulsory waltz. The waltz doesn't highlight the passion and energy that is their strength. It calls for elegance, catering more to Bulgaria's Albena Denkova and Maxim Staviski and Canada's Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon, who were 1-2 after yesterday's competition.
''We came from sixth at the Olympics," said Belbin of the three-time US champions' rally in Turin.
They became the first Americans in 30 years to medal in Olympic ice dancing, and now they're seeking the first US world title.
With Olympic champions Tatiana Navka and Roman Kostomarov absent, Belbin-Agosto are the favorites.
Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov were 10th, while the third American couple, Morgan Matthews and Maxim Zavozin were 16th.
