(Sports Network) - Evan Lysacek became the first American man to win the gold medal at the World Figure Skating Championships in 13 years, performing nearly perfectly to overtake first place by winning the free skate Thursday night at the Staples Center.

Not since Todd Eldredge won the gold medal in 1996 has an American male captured the title, but Lysacek turned that around by finishing with 242.23 points to edge Canadian Patrick Chan (237.58). France's Brian Joubert, who held a slim lead over Lysacek after the short program Wednesday, came in third with 235.97 points.

Brandon Mroz and Jeremy Abbott came in ninth and 11th, respectively, meaning the Americans gained three spots for next year's Winter Olympics.

The 23-year-old Lysacek, who placed fourth at the 2006 Winter Olympics, had a pair of third-place finishes at Worlds, in 2005 and '06, but the result from the Chicago native turned-Los Angeles resident sent shockwaves through the skating world Thursday.

The 24-year-old Joubert, a three-time European champion, held a 1.7 point lead going into Thursday. Joubert won the gold medal in 2007 and captured silver three other times (2004, '06 and '08) at Worlds.

Russians Maxim Shabalin and Oksana Domnina continue to hold the lead in the ice dancing competition. The duo finished second in the original dance portion on Thursday and have 105.45 points heading into Friday's free dance, when the medals will be handed out.

Americans Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto, who were silver medalists in 2005 and earned bronze medals in 2006 and '07, are currently in second with 104.81 points after winning the original dance program Thursday. The 2006 Olympic silver medalists are followed by Canadians Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir (100.42), last year's second-place finishers. Americans Meryl Davis and Charlie White (100.33), are in fourth.





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