Kimmie Meissner holds the title. Now Evan Lysacek has a quad. The two Americans could pull off a double win at the World Figure Skating Championships that begin Tuesday in Tokyo.

But there also could be a Japanese duo winning. Mao Asada and Daisuke Takahashi have put up record scores in events in Japan this season, and are sure to be helped by the local crowd.

"There will be some pressure on me because I am the reigning world champion, but also a lot of it will be on the Japanese girls. When you're in your home country, you want to skate well," Meissner said. "There will be a lot of attention on them."

On all of the women, actually. With Sasha Cohen and Michelle Kwan on hiatus, the 16- and 17-year-olds will be scrambling to establish themselves as favorites in the leadup to the Vancouver Olympics in 2010.

Meissner would appear to have the early edge, winning the world title last year in Calgary after the skaters who beat her at the Turin Olympics -- she was sixth -- either failed to show up or flopped at worlds.

The 17-year-old won with two triple-triples and a near-flawless free skate, but she's struggled to match that performance this year.

She failed to qualify for the Grand Prix final, and only won the U.S. title after Emily Hughes fell.

"Going into worlds, I have my normal goal," Meissner said. "I want to end the season on a high note and two strong programs."

Though Meissner can do a triple axel, she hasn't landed it in competition in two years. She's been working on it all season, but didn't try it at the nationals because it wasn't consistent enough, and won't decide until just before the event begins whether to do it at the worlds.

"If it's going to be worth it, like I know I am going to do it, I will put it in," she said. "It's so many points that it is so risky, and I already have two triple-triples in my program.

Meissner's best score is behind Asada, who set an international best of 199.52 points in winning the NHK Trophy and bettered that at the Japanese nationals. But Asada also has had problems with her triple axel.

The unknown factor is South Korean Kim Yu Na, who beat both Meissner and Asada this year and won the Grand Prix final. She has triple-triple combinations, too.

But she also has a tender back that was taped during her Grand Prix final victory and forced her to take time off earlier this year.

Lysacek was the bronze medalist at the last two world championships. But without a quad, he was more of an also-ran than a contender.

That changed at the U.S. championships in January, when he wowed the world with an energetic and emotional skate. He started the program with a quad-triple combination, and ended on his knees with his hands on his head.

"In the past, it's been a little bit of a different story, because there's usually one or two guys at the top. Pretty much it's been one, (Stephane) Lambiel in 2005 and Lambiel and (Brian) Joubert last year," Lysacek said.

"Now there's probably six or seven of us that are doing (quads). It's going to be a more fair competition. It's going to be who skates the best, who puts it on the line that night."

Lambiel, the world champion in 2005 and 2006, has had problems with motivation, turning his back on the European championships just before he was scheduled to go. Then, at the end of February, he spun around again.

"The energy returned to me," Lambiel said in announcing his decision to come to Tokyo. But he added, "I'll have to bleed to become world champion again."

Joubert looked good early in the season with three quads in Russia, but has not reached that level since. Plus, he sliced his foot in practice in February, causing him to lose ice time.

Japanese skaters Takahashi and Nobunari Oda have been brilliant in Japan but now will have the weight of expectations on them. Canadian Jeff Buttle, the Olympic bronze medalist, missed the Grand Prix series with a stress fracture in his back.

The ice dance event is wide open, with Olympic silver medalists Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto of the United States among the contenders who have taken turns beating each other during the season. The reigning world champions, Albena Denkova and Maxim Staviski of Bulgaria, were third at the Europeans.

The Chinese may sweep the pairs, with veterans Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo looking to gain their third world title after injuries forced them to miss the last two world championships.