FIGURE SKATING / WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS : Elvis Stojko Gives Canada Another Men’s Title

A motorcycle-riding martial arts expert who was named for Elvis Presley became the king of men’s figure skating Thursday.

Taking over where compatriot Kurt Browning left off when he retired this winter, Elvis Stojko gave Canada its fifth men’s title in the last six years at the World Championships at Chiba, Japan, with a technically superior freestyle program.

For technical merit in a program that included a quadruple toe jump done in combination with a triple toe, Stojko, 22, received one perfect score of 6.0 and eight 5.9s from the nine judges. His artistic marks ranged from 5.7 to 5.9.

The only man who beat Stojko at the Winter Olympics, Russia’s Alexei Urmanov, finished fourth after falling on a quadruple toe jump. France’s Philippe Candeloro was second, and Ukraine’s Viacheslav Zagorodniuk was third.

The best U.S. finish was national champion Scott Davis’ seventh. Aren Nielsen, sixth after the technical program, landed only two triple jumps and dropped to 13th. Because no U.S. man finished among the top three, the United States again will be represented by only two men in next year’s World Championships.

The women’s competition, which resumed late Thursday night (L.A. time) with the technical program, lost another medal contender when China’s Chen Lu withdrew because of a stress fracture in her right foot.

The only U.S. competitor remaining is Michelle Kwan, 13, of Torrance, who finished fifth Monday in her qualifying group.