MINNEAPOLIS -- Once again, it wasn't her best. This time, it was good enough.

Michelle Kwan didn't quite nail everything Saturday night in the free skate in the World Figure Skating Championships. With Tara Lipinski and Lu Chen, the other medalists from the Olympics, not on hand, Kwan's performance still swept the judging panel.

Kwan won

Michelle Kwan was strong enough Saturday to recover from an uncharacteristic fall and win the gold. (AP)

her second world championship in three years with a so-so free skate marred by two errors. The 17-year-old American did display some of the passion she lacked in her long program at Nagano, where she was runner-up to Lipinski.

"I HAD A LITTLE NERVES, BUT I was able to pull myself together at the end," she said. "I had a few wobbles, but I was very proud of myself that I did the triple lutz at the end. I said, `I've got to nail this jump. Let's go.' And I powered through it and I landed it."

It wasn't close to her near-perfect program in the nationals in January. Perhaps Kwan sensed that neither of the Russians who finished behind her, Irina Slutskaya or Maria Butyrskaya, presented much of a challenge.

Nor did Poland's Anna Rechnio, who slipped from second after the short program to fifth. Or France's Laetitia Hubert, who dropped from third to fourth.

"During my performance, it was four minutes of thinking," Kwan said. "After I made two mistakes, I knew I had no more options but to do everything else."

Kwan had one 6.0 for artistry in her short program Friday. She got seven 5.9s this time, but a fall on a double axel and a triple salchow she cut to a double actually left room for one of her competitors to fly past her.

Instead of flying, though, most of them crashed.

BUTYRSKAYA THOUGHT IT WAS logical that she and Slutskaya finish in the medals.

"Those two medal-winners from the Olympic Games are not here," she said of Lipinski and Chen, "and we were fourth and fifth. So like in ice dance, we should move up."

The other American, Tonia Kwiatkowski -- the replacement for Lipinski, who missed the worlds with fatigue and a viral infection -- was sixth. It was Kwiatkowski's final appearance before turning pro.

The combined finish for Kwan and Kwiatkowski assured the United States three women's spots in next year's worlds at Helsinki. The Americans also will have three men and three pairs, but only one dance team.

Kwan was the only American champion in the worlds. Russia won the other three disciplines.

"I DID WIN THE WORLD TITLE in 1996 and it's nice to win it back in the home country," she said.

Kwan, who earned $50,000 for her championship, plans to continue in eligible skating through the 2002 Olympics. She wants to add gold to the silver of Nagano, but if Lipinski isn't around to push her, she might need to find other challengers. Nobody in this field was a threat to the two-time American champ.

Skating to Lyra Angelica, music that makes her feel heavenly, Kwan started off superbly. She nailed a triple lutz-double toe loop combination and then a triple toe-double toe, followed by a triple flip.

Any thought that she was en route to a repeat of her Philadelphia story -- 15 6.0s in the two programs -- disappeared when she fell on the relatively simple double axel. Her error on the triple salchow didn't create any suspense, but it made her point to her head while she awaited her marks, as if to say, `Hey, dummy, you can't miss that stuff."'

Slutskaya, skating last, surged from fourth to second as she hit two triple-triple combinations and finished with some outstanding spins.

SHE GRINNED WHILE WAITING for her marks, but as soon as she realized she won the silver, she popped up, pumping her fists and cheering.

"This was the last competition of the season and I wanted to show what I can do," she said.

Butyrskaya struggled throughout her program and had a heavy crash during footwork. But the judges were impressed by two triple-double combos and excellent spins in a graceful performance.

Both Russians said they, too, would stick around the eligible ranks.

Kwiatkowski received the biggest ovations of the night, partly in tribute to her skating and partly as a goodbye salute to a 27-year-old college student who never wore out her welcome. She covered her face when she finished as the fans stood waving U.S. flags and showering the ice with flowers and gifts.

Kwiatkowski also pumped her arms twice while leaving the ice and cried when she met coach Carol Heiss Jenkins in the kiss-and-cry area.

"I knew I had it in me to be at the world championships, to be in your own country, and do so well," she said, "It's kind of overwhelming at the moment."