TURIN, Italy - Evgeni Plushenko posted his score, then watched the other Olympic contenders crash and burn.

The three-time world champion took few chances, yet still managed another personal best Thursday night to grab the fifth straight Olympic gold medal for a Russian/Soviet man. He pretty much owned that when he showed up in Turin, and the field couldn't come close to measuring up.

World champion Stephane Lambiel of Switzerland won silver and Jeff Buttle of Canada got bronze, although both struggled in the men's figure skating free skate.

U.S. champion Johnny Weir, who fell out of medal contention with a cautious program filled with errors, stormed out of the rink when his mediocre marks were shown. He finished fifth.

"I missed the bus. They changed the schedule," Weir said. "It was every 10 minutes. Today it was every half-hour. I was late getting here and never caught up. I never felt comfortable in this building. I didn't feel my inner peace, I didn't feel my aura. Inside I was black."

Skating slowly and without any sign of emotion, Plushenko still was far too good for the rest of the field, finishing with a score of 167.67 points in the free skate - an incredible 27.12 points in front of Lambiel.

All of his main rivals skated after him in the final group and, one by one, they fell short. He opened with a quadruple toe loop-triple toe-double loop combination, followed with a triple axel-double toe. All he had to do after that was stay on his feet.

No problem.

Plushenko crossed himself twice at the end, then got a big hug and kiss on the cheek from longtime coach Alexei Mishin. Plushenko also kissed his wedding ring while awaiting his marks - appropriate for someone who skated to "The Godfather."

Plushenko even stuck around to view the work of Lambiel and Weir, who was second after the short program. The Russian had nothing to worry about, easily adding gold to the silver he won four years ago in Salt Lake City.

Russian flags waved throughout the arena as Plushenko received his medal, smiling widely. He was stoic on the podium while Lambiel couldn't stop crying.

Plushenko's program wasn't nearly as memorable as those that produced gold for Victor Petrenko, Alexei Urmanov, Ilia Kulik and Alexei Yagudin in the Russian/Soviet streak.

Lambiel and Buttle were more medals survivors than anything, and Weir was particularly uninspired.

"I was off, it was an off night," said the 21-year-old Weir. "But I will be back in four years, hopefully for a medal."

Weir two-footed a triple axel, had a shaky landing on a triple lutz, did a sloppy triple flip and spun as though he didn't really want to turn. With only one combination jump, his medal chances flew away and he was sixth in the free skate.

That allowed Lysacek to soar past him, from 10th to fourth.

It took 13 skaters for the first clean program, and it was Lysacek's magnificent moment. The runner-up to Weir at nationals when Lysacek won the free skate, he packed his "Carmen" routine with emotion and motion. He hit all eight of his triple jumps, three in combinations, and spun precisely and quickly.

Amazing considering he has a stomach flu and was bedridden Wednesday.

Lysacek, 20, covered his face with his hand at the finish, then fell to one knee with the crowd on its feet. His personal best of 152.58 in the free skate was a terrific way to make up for a poor short program that saw him plummet to 10th.

"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."

Russia's Evgeni Plushenko performs a triple axel during the finals of the men's figure skating free skate.

at the Turin 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Turin, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 16, 2006.