Jayson Denommee, 23, forced out of last year's event by food poisoning, was the surprise silver medallist. He landed six triples in his jazzy Hot Saxes routine.

Ben Ferreira, 21, last year's bronze medallist finished in the same spot this time around.

Earlier Saturday, Jennifer Robinson won her fourth womens' title, despite troubles with her Irish Symphone finaled.

Robinson, ranked eighth in the world, put a hand down to steady herself on two triple jump landings, then opened her second triple lutz into a single jump. In all, she notched just four cleanly landed triple jumps.

The women's silver went to diminutive, 15-year-old Nicole Watt, who managed five triples.

Annie Bellemare won the bronze.

Sandhu, 21, executed the most difficult jump combination -- the quadruple toe loop-triple toe loop -- that Stojko was the first to nail in 1996. Ferreira went down on his quad attempt.

Sandhu's program also featured seven triple jumps including a triple Axel-triple toe combo. The 9500 fans at Winnipeg Arena roared and rose in appreciation of Sandhu's near flawless performance as he pumped his arms in the air in jubilation.

One of the nine judges gave Sandhu a 6.0 for technical merit. The rest awarded 5.8s.

"I knew it (the gold medal) was coming some day, I just had to make it happen," said Sandhu, from Richmond Hill, Ontario, also Stojko's hometown.

Jamie Sale and David Pelletier made it two consecutive titles in the pairs event. They snagged mostly 5.8s and 5.9s for their Triston and Isolde performance. But for presentation, they scored 5.9s across the board to win the gold medal.

The pairs silver medal went to veterans Kristy and Kris Wirtz who delivered one of the most outstanding performances of their seven-year partnership.

The bronze medal was captured by a very surprised twosome -- Anabelle Langlois and Patrice Archetto -- who had missed much of the early part of the season with injury.

Despite winning gold, Salle and Pelletier, expected to challenge for World Championship gold in March, were disappointed with their performance.

"We don't want to use any excuses. Jamie's been sick for two days, and I'm just proud of the way she handled things," said Pelletier, ranked fourth in the world.

The crowd was enthused by their performance, but less so after Sale fell on her triple toe loop jump.

The Wirtzes were clearly the crowd favorites in the pairs.

By the time the popular couple death spiralled into their finale, some 7000 cheering fans were on their feet, knowing they had just witnessed one of the most memorable performances in Canadian figure skating.

But the husband-and-wife team failed to sway the nine judges who marked them into second place with a collection of 5.6s and 5.7s.

Obviously disagreeing with the judges, Kris Wirtz said, "I've never had a hole in one in golf, but I think that's as close as I'm going to get in this sport."

The silver medal aside, the Wirtzes strong performance was a personal victory. The 1998 and '99 champions had wanted to dispel thoughts that they were past their prime at ages 26 and 31.