After his rivals had faltered, Jeremy Abbott turned what was expected to be a close competition into a rout, winning his second straight national men's figure skating title with a tour de force in today's free skate at the U.S. Championships in Spokane, Wash.

Abbott opened with a quadruple jump and followed it with more than four minutes of technical mastery and poised presentation to win the title by 25.03 points over reigning world champion Evan Lysacek.

Lysacek, whose performance was described as "labored" by his coach, Frank Carroll, and third finisher Johnny Weir probably will earn the three men's spots on the U.S. Olympic team. That decision was to be announced today.