Those close to Canadian figure skater Joannie Rochette say she is determined to finish her Olympic mission despite the sudden death of her mother Therese.

"Fairly shortly after she was informed she decided she would carry on," said William Thompson, Skate Canada's CEO. "We will support whatever decision she makes. Honestly, I think she'll skate. She seemed very determined to compete."

Therese Rochette, 55, had arrived in Vancouver with her husband Normand on Saturday after travelling from their home in Montreal. Early Sunday morning Therese was transported to Vancouver General Hospital where she died. Cause of death has not been revealed.

Joannie was still at the athletes village where she was informed by her father and by her longtime coach Manon Perron at about 6 a.m. Sunday.

"It's a roller coaster for her," said Thompson. "She's still in shock. It just happened. She was just informed a few hours ago by her dad."

Skate Canada and the Canadian Olympic Committee have offered to help Joannie in any way she needs. If Joannie decides to remain in the athletes village, where she has been staying since arriving in Vancouver, they will ensure she has her own room. She currently shares a room with ice dancer Tessa Virtue.

"We have given Joannie a number of options," said Thompson. "It will be up to Joannie to choose. We can accommodate her in the village. I think she will stay in the village in her own room."

Joannie, 24, is due to skate the short program Tuesday and the long program Thursday at Pacific Coliseum. Thompson said Rochette may well be comforted by the routine that competition can bring to her at this terrible time.

"The one thing is, being at the Games, there are pillars of certainty that competing can provide her. There is a plan for training. There is a plan for competing. It gives her something to look to, beyond simply being in grief."

Skate Canada plans to shield Joannie from the worldwide media in the coming days. While athletes traditionally speak to the media following a performance, Skate Canada plans to ask for special dispensation that would not require Rochette to walk through the mixed zone following Tuesday's short program.

Rochette is a medal contender at the Games, coming in as the reigning world silver medalist and six-time Canadian champ.

Plushenko, looking to become the first man in almost six decades to win back-to-back titles, had been swaggering around all week with the air of a man who had already won gold but Lysacek wowed the judges with an enchanting performance to Sheherazade that brought the roaring crowd to their feet.

Unlike the Russian, he did not attempt any quadruple jumps but was handsomely rewarded for his wobble-free jumps, his exquisite footwork, transitions and artistry.

His score of 257.67 eclipsed Plushenko by 1.31 points, leaving the Russian to moan.

"An Olympic champion who doesn't know how to jump a quad, well I don't know.... it's not men's figure skating," he told reporters. "It's dancing."

Lysacek, who jumped up and down backstage when Plushenko's combined score of 256.36 flashed up, did not care what the Russian thought.

"I had so much fun tonight," he said. "I love this crowd, I love this ice, it was definitely my best. Mission accomplished. I was feeling more relaxed after the first jump.

"I couldn't have asked for much more than that. To get a personal best in the most important moment of my life, you dream about it."

Daisuke Takahashi won Japan's first medal in the event when he finished third with 247.23 despite falling over on his quad. Switzerland's Stephane Lambiel was fourth.

Brian Boitano was the last American man to win the Olympic title, when the Games were also held in Canada in Calgary in 1988.

Lysacek wiped away 22 years of hurt, and Russian and Soviet domination, with the performance of his life.

GOOD AND EVIL

VANCOUVER — American Evan Lysacek's perfect, elegant free skate beat the Russian master Evgeni Plushenko's slightly flawed finale, setting in motion a stunning Olympic upset.

And no doubt fuelling the debate that rages whenever men get together to skate for medals these days. To quad like Plushenko, or to skate like Lysacek? The answer is obvious, wrapped in stars and stripes.

"That's what I was looking for, a really strong skate," said Lysacek, who won the Grand Prix Final but lost his own nationals in an up and down year. "Possibly my best ever. I love this ice. I love this crowd. I had a really great time. I saw that American flag go up and I couldn't believe it was for me.

"It was such a special skate that I'll always remember it. I'm ecstatic with it actually."

Lysacek powered through every moment of his stirring long program Thursday at Pacific Coliseum and was rewarded with a whopping 167.37 points for a golden total of 257.67. He beat Plushenko by the slightest of margins, just 1.31 points, while Daisuke Takahashi of Japan skated around like his crazy hair was on fire for four minutes and took bronze. Canadian Patrick Chan was a gutsy though bittersweet fifth.

It could be said that Lysacek's minuscule margin of victory was rooted in Plushenko's decision to drop the third jump of his planned opening gambit, one triggered by the quad that Lysacek eschews in favour of a focus on components. And if you look at it that way, theirs was an ironic war of philosophy. Because Plushenko and Lysacek had identical component scores of 82.8 and Lysacek beat Plushenko at his own game, 84.57 to 82.71 for the 13 elements that make up the gruelling long program.

This mathematical anomaly did not sit well with the Russian, who skated last and earned just 13.8 points for his opening quad-triple combination.

"With the old system I must win. The new system is a little different," said Plushenko. "I was sure that I had won my second Olympic Games. But this is the new system, the quad is not valued anymore. Apparently this is what figure skating needs today. I thought it was enough and it should have been enough (to win)," said the irritated 27-year-old from St. Petersburg, who showed up late to the post-competition news conference in a touchy mood.

"I was positive that I had won. But I suppose Evan needs a medal more than I do," said Plushenko. "Maybe it's because I already have one."

The smarminess was unnecessary and unbecoming for the 2006 Olympic champ and now two-time silver winner. Plushenko had been beaten and needed to act the part. Sure, he landed a quad and won the early battle in the short program, though just barely, by less than a point, with Lysacek and Takahashi smelling blood. Had Plushenko skated clean again Thursday, he would have celebrated Russia's sixth straight gold in the men's discipline. Instead, he wobbled through a triple Axel and dropped that third jump of his opener.

He was vulnerable for the first time all year and Lysacek broke the Russian streak of dominance his way, with eight clean triples that gave the States its first Olympic winner since Brian Boitano, who won the last time these Games were held in Canada, Calgary in 1988.

"I've worked so hard on all aspects of my skating and if it was about doing just one jump, they'd give us 10 seconds to go out and do our best jump," Lysacek said, leading the charge against the quad-squadders. "Not doing a quad was definitely a belief."

Lysacek knew what Plushenko was bringing back to the fight after a three-year retirement, his arsenal plain to see at the Rostelecom Cup, Russian nationals and the European Championships. Lysacek had time to arm himself with a quad and combinations but he stayed focused on those component scores, on footwork and transitions, on feeling his way through the program. Plushenko, though working hard on artistry, usually cannot match the American on that piece of turf, so he pushes the envelope in the air, with quads and combinations unmatched. But he was less jumping machine than a mere mortal on Thursday and the gap between the two men normally created by the quads and combos was gone. Though Lysacek settled smoothly for triples, they were golden not silver because they were all solid.

He strives to be a complete skater and this victory will empower his followers, kids like Chan who gets credit for jumping up off the mat at his home Olympics, because the plucky 19-year-old gave it his all Thursday. The wonderfully gregarious Toronto kid would not engage the Russian master and others with quads at the top level of their sport and so fifth place is his lot, vanquished in the men's discipline along with other pre-Games contenders, some of whom were too cautious by half. But Chan milked the system for good component scores and had to be content with his place.

"There's not many people who get a medal at their first Olympics," Chan smiled. "There's many more to come."

Chan was smiling because he had thrown everything in the arsenal onto the ice, landed 10 clean jumps and a couple that weren't, danced his way through Phantom of the Opera and done himself proud. The thing is, it wasn't enough going in, Canadians just didn't realize it, and it wasn't enough coming off the ice. But he didn't want to change to suit somebody else's idea, least of all Plushenko's.

"That's what I do. That's what I love to do," said Chan. "It's not jumps really. Jumps are not my favourite thing. Like the quad is not. My favourite thing is just skating the program, doing the footwork, the spins and just doing all those things in between and that's what I love to do. If I do all that I think I have accomplished something big."

Following the same path, Lysacek did what was practically unthinkable. And he did it because he was clean through two programs on the world's biggest stage. If Chan had skated a clean short program, he would have had an outside shot at bronze with another mistake-free run on Thursday.

But he needs to find another level, to compete more often and get a killer instinct. Coming close at the Olympics earns you a nice memory and motivation to do more in Sochi four years from now. That's where Chan will be in 2014, and if he goes there with a quad he will be a favourite. Because the sport is going to keep evolving. Lysacek, I think, will one day have a quad.

For now, Lysacek's success is confirmation that his way was right, I suppose, but Plushenko isn't just rooted in the past. What they all seem to have missed is the fact Plushenko has worked hard enough to stay within striking distance on four of the five component marks; skating skills, choreography/composition, interpretation and performance/execution. Nobody has done nearly enough to stay with him in the air. They are conceding too much on jumps, hoping for too much from components.

So America celebrates, Russia stews and Canada waits. Again.

The country has never seen one of its own men with a gold medal at the Games, never heard the national anthem. Elvis Stojko and Brian Orser came closest, each winning back-to-back silver medals, Stojko in 1994 and 1998, Orser in 1984 and 1988. There are four bronze on the national mantel too, Jeff Buttle in 2006, Toller Cranston's from 1976, Donald Jackson in 1960 and one you have surely forgotten, Montgomery Wilson in 1932.