PARIS -- Triple world champion Alexei Yagudin skated to his daring Olympic program Saturday and beat Todd Eldredge for his fifth consecutive Lalique Trophy Grand Prix title.

	Maria Butyrskaya fell numerous times in her free skate, but so did the rest of the women so she ended up with the title.

Russia's Maria Butyrskaya beat Americans Sarah Hughes and Sasha Cohen after a disastrous women's free program that was filled with falls and mistakes.

Olympic silver medalists Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze of Russia overcame a recent injury to win the pairs title ahead of Americans Kyoko Ina and John Zimmerman.

And French sweethearts Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat won over the judges in the dance, defeating Grand Prix leaders Shae Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz of Canada.

Yagudin of Russia, dressed in a black outfit with bronze embroidery, easily outclassed Eldredge's solid but safe performance. Yagudin skated to the soundtrack of "The Man in the Iron Mask."

Germany's Andrejs Vlascenko, skating to a bluesy rock number, was third while 17-year-old American Johnny Weir was fourth.

Eldredge, who skated to the soundtrack of "1492 Conquest of Paradise" by Vangelis, has just three months to integrate a quadruple jump into his yet-untested Olympic program if he hopes to win a medal in Salt Lake City. He landed a quad in the 2000 Masters of Skating event.

"I haven't quite got comfortable with the new long program, which I have yet to put into competition," he said.

Yagudin put together a strong quadruple toe-triple toe combination, then made six other clean triple jumps. He impressed with another attempted quadruple, despite falling on his hands before attaching a simple toe-loop.

Yagudin led after the short program and earned marks between 5.6 and 5.8 in technical merit and four 5.9s for presentation.

"I feel really strong and powerful this season," said Yagudin, who lost 20 pounds leading to the Olympic season but regained some after a less-than-satisfactory effort at the Goodwill Games. "I nearly missed the second quad because there wasn't enough speed."

He said his coach was unhappy with him because he bungled a simple triple jump.

Eldredge produced a textbook program from last season, with the seven required triple jumps, two beautiful Russian splits and clean, deep spins, pleasing the crowd.

But he lacked the originality and spice -- as well as the all-important quad -- that would allow the judges to put him into first place. He also fell forward onto his hands during a triple axel, double toe loop.

"I leaned forward way too much," said Eldredge, who was also runner-up to Yagudin at Skate Canada.

For a moment, it appeared Eldredge was going to attempt a quadruple but instead settled for a triple toe loop.

Eldredge's technical marks varied from 5.4 to 5.7. In presentation, the American judge awarded him a 5.9, with the rest deeming 5.7 more appropriate.

Butyrskaya, dressed in an elegant white dress with a silvery-sequined neckline and skating to easy-listening music from a Russian movie soundtrack, tripped unconvincingly through her program.

She first crashed on a triple lutz, then flopped a combination jump, bailing out of an attempted triple toe loop, before falling on the triple salchow. She two-footed in the middle of her other combination.

At the end of her program, Butyrskaya punched the air in disgust.

Asked what happened, she said "you should probably ask all the ladies that question."

"I'm usually sleeping at 10:15, it's hard to go out at (that time)," she added.

The Russian, who won the Nation's Cup, received technical marks as low as 5.2, redeeming herself only in presentation with two 5.8s and three 5.7s.

Hughes, fourth after the short, vaulted into second despite a lethargic effort and a heavy fall on a triple loop. She had the best long skate but Butyrskaya won on the strength of an error-free short program.

Cohen, 17, tumbled on a lutz, touched down on a double axel and pitched to the ground while she was simply skating in a backwards crouch.

Russia's Viktoria Volchkova, second heading into the free program, dropped to fourth after three falls.

Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze showed few signs of rust following a two-week injury break. Their Charlie Chaplin routine earned mostly 5.7s in technical merit and five 5.9s in presentation.

The only sign of Sikharulidze's injury -- a 5-inch cut on his arm, sliced by her blade during practice -- was when he strained to lower her from an overhead lift. His stitches came out five days ago.

Anissina and Peizerat held on for victory with a theatrical free program to E. Morricone's "Canone Inverso" and Jean Claude Petit's "Non merci," with Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1963 "I Have a Dream" speech in the background.

The couple enthralled the home crowd with a melodramatic program similar to past routines featuring their trademark move in which Anissina carries her partner.

"The win is even sweeter because it's the first program of the Olympic season," Peizerat said. "Our focus is on the Olympics and that's it."