For the USA, 16-year-old Mirai Nagasu skated last and made the most of it, finishing fourth overall after placing sixth in the short program. Rachael Flatt, 17, placed seventh overall.

Kim, 19, who trains in Toronto under Canadian coach Brian Orser, won the first medal of any color for South Korea in Olympic figure skating.

After Kim's record-breaking point total in the short program Tuesday, the 2009 world champion's scores of 150.06 in the free and 228.56 overall obliterated her own world records (133.95 in the free, 210.03 overall).

Wearing a bright blue outfit with a neck collar of silver sequins, Kim opened with a triple lutz/triple toe jump combination. She hit four more triples and finished with her skate held over her head in a whirring spin.

South Korean fans waved flags and roared. Dozens of teddy bears and other stuffed animals were tossed on the ice in tribute. "It was my dream, and this is not a dream anymore," Kim said. "I still can't believe it."

Japan's Asada, 19, the 2008 world champion, knew she had some catching up to do. She's one of the only women ever to do a triple axel jump, and she opened with two of them. She was downgraded on a triple flip and singled an attempted triple loop, but her score of 131.72 in the free and 205.50 overall gave her silver.

"The two triple axels I was happy with," Asada said. "Halfway through, I was nervous physically but stayed strong and finished."

Rochette, 24, skated four days after the death of her mother. Therese Rochette, 55, died suddenly Sunday after coming here to see her only child perform.

The crowd cheered warmly as Joannie took the ice. That turned to roars when she landed her opening jump combination triple lutz/double toe, double loop.

At the finish, she blew a kiss and took her bows. She scored 131.28 points in the free for a total of 202.64 points overall. "I feel proud and the result didn't matter," Rochette said. "But I'm happy to be on the podium. That was my goal coming in. It's been a lifelong project with my mum, and we achieved that."

Flatt clinched both fists at the finish after she landed seven triple jumps, including an opening triple flip/triple toe combination. But she was downgraded by the judges on two of her triple flips and scored 117.85 in the free and 182.49 overall.

"I was incredibly excited to have given two wonderful performances in my first Olympic Games," Flatt said. "I was a little surprised, honestly, that both of my triple flips were downgraded. But it is just something to fix for the world championships (in March in Italy)."

Nagasu skated last in the final group by virtue of the draw. She won the U.S. title in 2008 at 14, had a down year and then rebounded with a second to Flatt at nationals. She scored 126.39 points in the free and 190.15 overall to move ahead of Japan's Miki Ando into fourth.

Now, Nagasu looks to the 2014 Olympics in Russia. "(Age) 20 is not bad. Yu-Na is just under that," she said. "(The Olympics) was a dream since I was a little kid. I don't think fourth place is that bad a place."

She, too, heads to the worlds. "I think I learned a lot here at my first international competition," she said. "It was my first time skating in the final warm-up. It was a great honor and as stressful as they say. But I was able to beat that pressure."