-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- In a major upset , Evan Lysacek of the United States edged out defending gold medalist Russian Evgeni Plushenko to win the men 's figure skating gold medal . It was the first time since the 1988 Winter Games in Calgary -- where Brian Boitano won for the United States -- that any nation other than Russia has won the men 's gold medal in the event . In a first for Japan on the men 's podium , Daisuke Takahashi of Japan took the bronze . Lysacek , who placed fourth at the Turin Games in 2006 , won after the free skate program with a total score of 257.67 , which bettered Plushenko 's score of 256.36 . Takahashi 's score of 247.23 came just a little more than half a point better than fourth place finisher Stephane Lambiel of Switzerland . Lysacek 's triumph brought to six the number of golds and 18 the number of total medals the United States has , the most of any nation so far . Earlier , Lindsey Vonn crashed out in the slalom section , opening the door for Maria Riesch of Germany to take the gold medal in the super-combined at the Vancouver Winter Olympics . The poster girl of the Winter Games led after the downhill section of the two-discipline event , but chasing down Riesch 's combined target time of two minutes 10.08 seconds came unstuck halfway down her slalom run at Whistler Creekside . Vonn 's teammate Julia Mancuso added to her silver in the downhill behind Vonn 24 hours previously with another second-placed finish , but over a second behind Riesch . Sweden 's Anja Paerson , who suffered a crashing fall in the downhill on Wednesday , was rewarded for her brave decision to compete with a bronze medal after a fine slalom run . Vonn 's downhill time of one minute 24.16 seconds left her 0.33 seconds clear of her great friend Riesch , with Mancuso of the United States in third place , and she seemingly had a second gold in two days firmly in her grasp . But the 25-year-old from Minnesota admitted after the downhill section that the shin injury which troubled her in the build-up to the Games was a problem and may present difficulties as she bids for gold in three other disciplines . `` It 's not good . It 's really hurting and I 'm just struggling with it , '' Vonn said . `` But there 's nothing really I can do . I just have to try to do therapy and try to tough it out today and then tomorrow will be a good day off . '' Riesch , who was a disappointing eighth on her Olympic debut in the downhill , looked much more assured in her second event and was always set to be the major challenger to Vonn as she has been throughout the World Cup season . Hosts Canada gained their third gold of the Games as Christine Nesbitt powered to victory in the women 's 1,000 speed skating event at the Richmond Oval . Nesbitt had just 0.02 seconds in hand over Annette Gerritsen of the Netherlands with another Dutch skater Laurine Van Riessen taking bronze . In other early action on day seven , Norway 's Tora Berger upset the favorites to claim her country 's 100th gold in the Winter Olympics with victory in the women 's 15k individual biathlon . Berger missed just one shot to beat Kazakhstan 's Elena Khrustaleva by 20.7 seconds . And the 101st gold was not long coming in the later men 's 20km individual event as Emile Hegle Svendsen claimed victory ahead of legendary compatriot Ole Einar Bjoerndalen , who was winning his 10th Olympic medal , including five golds . Bjoerndalen tied for silver with Belarus competitor Sergey Novikov , 9.5 seconds behind Svendsen . In women 's snowboarding , the half-pipe crown went to Torah Bright of Australia ahead of American pair Hanna Teter and Kelly Clark after a thrilling competition which set new standards .