MCE skaters
strike Gold

Johnny Weir is the 2004 U.S. National Champion after skating a flawless program in Atlanta. Read more	Evgeni Plushenko won the Gold Medal and fifth national title at the 2004 Russian National Championships.

Tatiana Totmianina & Maxim Marinin won the Gold Medal in pairs at the 2004 Russian National Championships, their second national title.	Elena Sokolova won her second national title at the 2004 Russian National Championships held in St. Petersburg.

January 10, 2004

MCE skaters hit the gold mine this week with Johnny Weir winning the U.S. Championship and Evgeni Plushenko, Elena Sokolova and Totmianina and Maxim Marinin sweeping the men, ladies and pairs competition at the Russian Nationals.

Weir won his first U.S. National Championship in Atlanta. Timothy Goebel withdrew after the short program when advised by doctors to undergo therapy to fix his aching body.

Plushenko recorded a record 16 6.0s combined in the short and long program to win the men's championship. Plushenko had all 6.0s in presentation marks and two 6.0s in technical merit with the remaining all 5.9s.

The Russian championship titles were the second for Sokolova and Totmianina & Marinin.