Canadian Buttle wins men's title at figure skating worlds

STOCKHOLM, March 22 (Xinhua) -- Jeffrey Buttle claimed his first world title to put Canada atop of the medals table on the final day of the world figure skating championships in Gothenburg, Sweden on Saturday.

The 25-year-old led all the way to beat defending champion Brian Joubert of France and American Johnny Weir to win the men's crown.

Thus, Canada became the big winner, going home with three medals after Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir took ice dancing silver and pairs skaters Jessica Dube and Bryce Davison won bronze.

From sixth in the short prgramme, Jouobert rallied for the silver, his third after 2004 and 2006, through an inspired performance from the Romeo and Juliet soundtrack.

Buttle performed flawlessly to the music Ararat, outclassed his rivals with 245.17 points overall. Joubert scored 231.22 and Weir 221.84.

He achieved a technical score of 84.29 and 78.78 for artistic components, giving his a personal best of 163.07 in the free skate which is nearly 10 points better than his previous best at the 2006 Olympics.

"I fully deserved this victory," said Buttle. "I did two clean programs with strong technical elements. I worked very hard on everything - the jumps, the pirouettes, the transitions. Skating is about the full package, not just the jumps."

Japan's Daisuke Takahashi, among the favorites after a stellar season and taking silver last year, finished off the podium in fourth, ahead of two-time winner Stephane Lambiel of Switzerland.

Olympic silver medallist Lambiel, winner in 2005 and 2006, stumbled his way through his Flamenco routine.

Buttle becomes the 11th Canadian man to hold the world title and first since three-time winner Elvis Stojko in 1997.