of Russia in Moscow, although not for points towards the Grand Prix final. He was ranked fifth-best skater in the world. Weir won the NHK Trophy, his first Grand Prix title and the first time he competed under the ISU Judging System (IJS). He earned 146.20 points in the free skate and 220.25 points overall, beating his runner-up Timothy Goebel by over 20 points. Weir's trip to Japan marked the first time he came "face-to-face" with Johnny's Angels, a group of figure skating fans who supported Weir emotionally and financially. He also won Trophee Bompard with a score of 208.10 points, despite coming in second in the free skate, behind French skater and European champion Brian Joubert, who came in second place overall. Weir "skated elegantly" in his free skate, but doubled his three planned triples in the second half of his program, which hurt his technical scores. He again did not include any quadruple jumps, choosing instead to emphasize his artistry, spins, and pirouettes. Weir later said that his win in Paris "signaled my ascendancy on the international stage". Weir came in second after Plushenko at the Cup of Russia, the first time they competed against each other after the implementation of the IJS. In his "elegant" short program, Weir completed a triple lutz-triple toe loop combination, but fell on his last jump, a triple flip, scoring 71.25 points. Weir opened his free skate with a triple Axel-triple toe loop combination and included five other triples, but stumbled coming out of his second triple Axel and missed his triple flip late in the program. He called his performance koshmar (the Russian word for "nightmare"). He earned a score of 207.99 points overall. With his two Grand Prix wins, Weir became the top qualifier for the Grand Prix final but had to withdraw because of a foot injury. The 2005 U.S. Nationals was the last time the 6.0 system was used at a U.S. Nationals. Weir had "the heavy burden of defending a title for the first time", but he was able to control his nerves and win his second Nationals title in a row and the first repeat U.S. Nationals championship since Michael Weiss in 1999 and 2000. Although he finished slightly behind Timothy Goebel in his short program, without a quadruple jump and having a less-technical program than Goebel, he was the favorite going into the free skate.