Evan Lysacek bio

Music
Short Program: Firebird by Igor Stravinsky
Free Skate: Scheherazade by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

Golden friends
Lysacek attended the 2009 ESPY awards with Nastia Liukin, who won the Olympic gymnastics all-around title in the 2008 Beijing Games. Liukin and Lysacek became good friends while participating in a joint skating and gymnastics show and Liukin was in attendance at the Staples Center when Lysacek won his world championship title.

Looking back: 2009
Despite a rough start on the Grand Prix series (he did not qualify for the final and was downgraded on triple Axels) and a disappointing third-place at Nationals, Lysacek peaked at Worlds. In front of his adopted hometown crowd in Los Angeles, Lysacek ignited the Staples Center with two flawless performances, besting favorites Brian Joubert of France and Patrick Chan of Canada for his first world title. While Lysacek did not attempt a quad due to an injury, he skated a clean, eight-triple free skate while the rest of the field faltered. The gold medal in Los Angeles was a major triumph for Lysacek, after consecutive third-place finishes in 2005 and 2006, he missed the world podium in 2007 (5th) and did not compete in 2008 due to injury. Lysacek is the first American man to claim a world title since 1996.

Taking nothing for granted
"I know though that this world championship is not going to help me win an Olympic gold medal. I'm going to have to start at zero with the other athletes," Lysacek said. "So I'm happy about it, but [after the summer] I'm going to do my best to just forget about it and try to build myself up to be a stronger, more mature, smarter athlete when the Olympics comes around."

Torino
After a disastrous short program that left him in 10th place, Lysacek became ill on the bus back to the Olympic Village ended up getting IV fluids for dehydration the next day. He came back to land eight triple jumps in his free skate, place 3rd in that portion of the event and move up to 4th overall. Afterwards he said: "It's hard because I dreamed about the Olympics for upwards of a decade. And that dream didn't include getting sick with a stomach flu, getting stuck with IVs, having my veins collapse and falling in the short program. It became about something different - courage."

A 'Modern Man'
Lysacek skates in, as he puts it, ‘street wear' in lieu of skating's traditional spandex and sequins. Says Lysacek , "You have to wear something that's appropriate for your music and that's appropriate for the event you're at, but wearing sequins and stones, I wouldn't wear that in my clothing on an everyday basis so why would I wear it when I am competing?" Lysacek has collaborated with top designers, including Vera Wang, who also worked with Michelle Kwan during her career. "I think I'm bringing an element of style and showing that this is my idea of what a modern man should dress like and look like," Lysacek explains. "It can still be stylish and it can still have some element of fashion, but [also] be masculine at the same time."

Not a natural talent
Lysacek says that when he first started skating, he was not a natural. "I had no feel for the ice," he said. But his parents were emphatic that their children participate in a variety of sports, so he kept skating because he wanted to play hockey. Though at times he wanted to give up the sport, by age 14 Lysacek had decided that figure skating would become his priority. "I wasn't a natural, which you hear a lot of skaters say," Lysacek says. "More important than talent or anything is heart. You're either born with the heart of an athlete or not, because in sports you go through so much adversity. You have a bad day and you want to quit. But the most important thing is to be persistent."

"Brand Quad"
Though an injury prevented him from including the jump at this year's Worlds, Lysacek has strong feelings on the quad and its place in figure skating. "The quad is the future of our sport...The "6.0" was such a huge brand for our sport and we lost that brand when we lost that system. One brand we have now is the quad; it's the only thing that's recognizable to anyone, whether they know skating or not...We're trying to take the sport to a whole new level."

Coach Frank Carroll said in 2008: "There isn't much of a choice, is there? If you want to skate with the big boys, you have to be doing the big boy tricks."

Moving West
After graduating from Neuqua Valley High School in 2003, Lysacek relocated from Naperville, Illinois to the Los Angeles area to train under Frank Carroll and Ken Congemi. Lysacek says that Carroll has become like family and is one of his best friend and describes him as an "incredible technician and an awesome psychologist." Also training alongside Evan are 2008 U.S. Champion Mirai Nagasu and two-time European Champion Carolina Kostner of Italy. Lysacek's home rink, the Toyota Sports Center, is also home to the Los Angeles Kings and the Los Angeles Lakers.

Training life
Lysacek skates four to six hours a day followed by a short core workout. After many years of experimenting, he says he feels most prepared and strongest entering a competition when he has been skating as much as possible. He says that he skates until he drops, and can barely make it to his bed when he gets home each day. Yoga and dance training are also integral parts of his training regimen.

Early Success
Lysacek won Juvenile Nationals at ten; Novice Nationals at 13 and Junior Nationals at 14. With his junior-level victory in 2000, became the first man since 1972 to win the U.S. novice and junior titles in consecutive seasons. Eight men had done it previously, including two-time Olympic champion Dick Button. Lysacek became a local media sensation when he came back from fifth place after the short program to win the junior title in 2000. The results surprised even him -- he was hoping his free skate performance had been enough to earn a bronze medal.