Plushenko skates off with Gold
(AP)
Updated: 2006-02-17 09:03

"It's hard because I dreamed about the Olympics for upwards of a decade," he said, "and that dream didn't include getting sick with a stomach flu, getting stuck with IVs, having my veins collapse and falling in the short program. It became about something different ... courage."

Teammate Matt Savoie was seventh. Skating directly after Lysacek, Savoie simplified one combination and one jump, but his spins were superb and his choreography and edge quality were as good as any.

"There's still worlds, and I don't know what will happen after law school," Savoie said after a personal-best 137.52 in the long program. "If it were to end today, it'd be great."

Buttle moved up from sixth by finishing second in the free skate.

"Waiting before you skate is hard," he said, "but waiting afterward is hardest. I never would have thought that I would come back after the short program."

The other contenders in the final group skated poorly. France's Brian Joubert dropped from fourth to sixth overall, and Japan's Daisuke Takahashi slipped from fifth to ninth.