ATLANTA (AP) – Johnny Weir finally finished his free skate.

Bouncing back from a horrifying fall a year ago, Weir skated to his first title in the U.S. Figure Skating Championships with a flawless performance Saturday, beating three-time winner Michael Weiss.

As Weir wrapped up his 41/2-minute performance in the center of the rink, the crowd rose to its feet and drowned out the majestic closing of the music from “Dr. Zhivago”

Weir kissed his hands and slapped the ice, overwhelmed by a program that included two soaring triple-triple combinations – all performed with power and ease.

When the first set of marks flashed on the scoreboard – all 5.8s and 5.9s for technical merit – Weir mouthed, “I don’t believe it.” When the next set of scores flashed, he broke down in tears at the sight of the first perfect 6.0 of the competition and nothing lower than 5.7 for artistry.

“Amazing,” Weir said. “It hasn’t quite sunk in yet. I think it will sometime next week when I’m at home.”

Weir was second after the short program in Dallas, but never made it through the free skate. A mere 23 seconds into the program, he suffered a mishap that might be seen at a neighborhood rink – clipping the edge of the boards.

, he went tumbling and hurt his back.

The referee allowed Weir to start again from the point of his fall, but he splattered on a triple axel while the music from “Dr. Zhivago” flowed on. He got up slowly, skated over to the referee and quit, saying his kneecap was hurt.

Weir shrugged off the memories when he got to Atlanta, telling himself it was just a vacation with a little skating thrown into the mix. In the ultimate act of defiance, he broke out the same program that didn’t get completed the year before.

He skated in a one-piece suit that was baby blue on top, black on the bottom and adorned with sparkling icicles. The garish outfit was quickly overshadowed by the skating when Weir nailed a triple axel-triple toe loop jump combination early in the program.

Though his routine was marred by some lapses in intensity, the judges didn’t seem to mind. Weir overwhelmed them with the height, power and control of his jumps – clearly the best of the competition.

By the end, no one remembered what happened in 2002.

“I know there were probably a lot of doubters out there, especially after last season,” said Weir, who won the world junior championship in 2001. “I hope I shut them up.”

While Weir gained some personal redemption, the American men still have some work to do as a whole. None of the top skaters even attempted a quadruple jump, which has become downright routine for the Russian, Chinese and Japanese competitors.

Still, the free skate was a major improvement over the short program, where guys were falling over the ice.

Weiss jumped from fourth to second with one of his strongest performances in recent memory. He passed up the chance to move even higher, deciding not to attempt a quad.

“They did not feel right in the warmup, so I decided to just do a clean long program,” Weiss said. “The fact I didn’t do the quads, you leave the door open when you don’t do that.”

Matthew Savoie will likely round out the team for the world championships after taking third.

Tim Goebel wasn’t around for the free skate. The Olympic bronze medalist withdrew after a dismal performance in the short program, saying his aching body could no longer perform his soaring jumps.

Goebel plans to take off the rest of the season to get treatment for major changes in his anatomical structure, which may have resulted from skate problems over the past year.

During the short program, Goebel fell on all three of his required jumps and finished 10th. Even if he had competed in Saturday’s free skate, it was unlikely he could have improved enough to make the world championships.

No such downfall for Weir, who’s heading to the worlds for the first time.

“I was thinking of nationals as just a stepping stone, learning how to come back from such a huge setback last season,” he said. “I just wanted to go safe and clean.”

And finish.

AP-ES-01-10-04 1836EST