Here is a nice article about Evan and how well he handled himself after winning the OGM.
http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/...n-lysacek.html
"Evan Lysacek, on very little sleep, appeared before the world press repeatedly in the hours following his victory,'' Ebersol said. "He so artfully walked through that whole minefield and made us proud to be Americans."
"He never took the bait. He just talked about how wonderful it was to be an Olympian. It was spectacular."
I don't think I'll ever forget Lysacek's articulate and dignified response to Bob Costas's questions a day or two after the competition. He was a credit to his country, to his coach, and to figure skating.
I was so happy to see this aspect of Evan's Olympic "performance" acknowledged. Athletes are ambassadors for their sport, their country, and so many other ways. The microscope is on them with such intensity during those initla few days after something as headline generating as an Olympic Gold medal, and even while completely exhausted by all the activity and commitments, he handled himself with such dignity and poise. As a parent, I thought this was SO SO important for my daughters to take note of. It made me more proud of Evan than you can imagine. I hope US Figure Skating has ways of highlighting the best (and worst) moments of off-ice behavior as a way to provide teaching moments for their next generation of athletes. I would have to think the top skaters are in general great kids. All the hard work and dedication must have other positive influences beyond just skating, but still, when the pressure of a "moment" is on, it helps to have reminders of what behavior might actually be considered truly "Olympian."
Your last sentence says it best, Binthere: when the pressure of a "moment" is on, it helps to have reminders of what behavior might actually be considered truly "Olympian." I don't think Lysacek will go on my life list of best skaters ever, up there with Browning and Kwan, but he will go on my list of great Olympians.
He never took the bait is just a way of saying he never discussed the issue that Plushenko raised. Should men do quads? Lysacek win said no. That jump progression is over and just forget about them. He was a robot who did not speak honestly once.
He chose to take a higher road. It is called having class. It showed a respect for the spirit of the Olympic games and for the host nation - our great Canadian neighbors.Originally Posted by gmyers
This is not about the other guy.
It is about Evan being "spectacular" and representing his nation so well and the values we admire and strive for.
We may fall short at times but that makes Evan's behavior that much more praiseworthy. He set a great example for future US Olympians to follow and I think it is wonderful that the USOC recognized this.
Last edited by janetfan; 09-28-2010 at 02:13 PM.
I'll tell you why your interpretation doesn't sit right with me, gmyers. It's not because I'm such a huge fan of his that I can't bear disagreement, but this brings up several points I've thought of for awhile.
1) Really, all the skater does is skate. How can one get angry at Evan for his gold medal, when it was the judges who decided that? He didn't do anything wrong by skating to the win. So there's no way he deserves any insults over his victory, anymore than Tara deserves to be castigated for "daring" to beat Michelle in Nagano. I would have preferred for Michelle to win, but Tara did only what every skater should do--try her best to get the gold. On that night, the judges went with her. On this night, the judges went with Evan. All he did was his best. We can complain that Olympic men's skating should contain quads, but the results that night were not by any fault of any skater. It's not really fair to hold them responsible.
2) As for Evan's response being evasive or robotic, far from it. I watched that interview with Costas, and I was astonished by his poise and articulateness. He wasn't reciting a mantra he'd rehearsed. He had to formulate answers on the spot to specific questions by Costas, who is a very good interviewer. Costas didn't ask any one-size-fits-all questions like "What was going through your mind when Plushenko said....?" I can tell you right now that I wouldn't have had the presence of mind to answer so well, and I'm a good deal older and more experienced in life than Lysacek. He did a superb job. Was he obligated to "admit" that he had somehow debased the Olympics by not doing a quad? Certainly not in that situation.
Agreed Olympia. The manner in which the comment is made "did not speak honestly once" is so ironic. While forums are for expressing opinions, and I certainly believe that they can and should span the gamut of all comers, the criticism is leveled in such a "classless" way as to make it an ironic extension of the very behavior that Evan is being acknowledged for not stooping to.
too bad though he didnt rehearsh his twitter answers, that need some polishing
but his signature skating move IS the quad
anyway it is clear from Olympics that Evan is the good boy and Plushy the bad boy, it is repeated too many times, just wanna say that everyone is graceful in the win, did Tara excused herself for beating Michelle or did Plushy ever answered the comments that he skated with no emotions an empty program in 2006?
Yeah, I agree with Evan, when you have won the Olympic Gold who cares what other say? You look your graceful self with the shiny medal in the mirror
by the way from my little experience on boards it seems we always accuse the skaters for judges' decisions:sheesh:
But according to that source he is even better known for his elegant and graceful style.but his signature skating move IS the quad.
It was such a predictable thread to begin with. Appreciated and understood nevertheless.Such a predictable answer.
That's the one thing in all this that we do have power over as fans. We can't lift Takahashi so that he doesn't fall on a quad (much as some of us would have liked to in Vancouver); we can't sit on the judges' shoulders and say, "Pay attention to this move, not that one! Don't give that skater the medal, give it to this one!" But we can make sure that we don't speak harshly of skaters for something they have nothing to do with. However results are arrived at--whether by judges' wishes alone, or by politicking behind the scenes by coaches and/or federations--certainly the skaters have nothing to do with it. They're busy at that moment.
Believe me, I've been guilty of this in the past. The one reason I continually bring up Tara vs. Michelle is that for some time I was peeved at Tara for winning in 1998. Then I suddenly realized that I was being angry at a fifteen-year-old who barely came up to my shoulder. For what? She trained for years (and injured herself permanently in the process) for a dream that every girl in that competition had. How was it her fault for doing what she was born to do, and for getting it recognized by the judges? How did that make her a bad person? Did she steal something from Michelle? Of course not. (In fact, she may have given Michelle a gift, because we can't be sure Michelle would have remained in skating and given us the glory years of 1999–2003 had she won--but that's another story.) Skating is a sport, but there's division of labor in it. Skaters just skate. The rankings are decided by others. It can be hard to remember that, but I kind of think that this is our job as fans. We'll have plenty to be angry at without allowing ourselves to yell at the skaters. Really we will! Plenty.
Evan has no respect for the art of skating. He doesn't care about creating anything special or have any perspective of the importance and value of what the great artistic skaters of the past have accomplished. The only thing Evan cares about is being a champion because it will make him money. He approached skating as way to become famous, it was never something that actually mattered to him.
Evan will say whatever he has to say in order to look good. Back after 2007 Nationals when he landed the Quad...the ONLY freaking time he had ever done it in his life...he suddenly started talking about how the Quad is so important and how "I am one of only 4 or 5 skaters in the World who is doing it consistently." Such a pile of crap.
Then after he became unable to do the Quad, he starts talking about how it's not important. Which, yeah, it's true that the Quad shouldn't be a necessity...if you are someone like Jeffrey Buttle who has amazing skating skills and artistry. Evan doesn't. Notice how he never talked about how much he loved his programs or the ideas he was trying to convey with his skating or the emotions he wanted to express. And that's because none of it mattered to him (and was completely absent in his skating). He only talked about how he is "such a hard worker".
Evan is horrible face for the sport. Spare me the nonsense about how "dignified" he was by not talking about the skating, but rather just how proud he was to be an Olympian. That's only the appearance he took on because he didn't have anything of value to say.
Uh, no. Costas did not ask ANYTHING that was particularly challenging and Evan's responses and tone were exactly the rehearsed kind. Evan's team knew exactly what would be asked and he responded in exactly the way he was told to. No personality or interesting observations or insight on his part. Just a big sheen of plastic. No doubt some Americans find that kind of behavior praiseworthy, as they value the 1950's (or 1980's) mindset of conformity and putting on a false face and ignoring the important, difficult questions and problems in life.
My, my, after reading your post it dawned on me how silly I must look at times saying similar things about Johnny who I always viewed as the most obvious and desperate fame seeker = money hungry skater I can ever recall.
But we are all entitled to our opinions.
I disagree totally with your notions of how an Olympic athlete should act. I also think it is pretty obvious how much you hate Evan. Is it because he has managed to have a more successful career than many skaters you like better?
I like your views on skating and some of your other views as well at times. But this post feels beneath you and feels to be driven by a level of hatred that seems unnecessary if not downright unhealthy.
I think your post in the strangest manner possible makes many of us appreciate Evan more and to recognize how appropriate it was for the USOC to cite him at their recent meeting.
People say not to dislike the skater but it was part of the Lysacek strategy to not do a quad which the last three people who won gold medals did. When after the short program he was only fractions away from the lead he was right in line for the gold mdedal he said no quad in the free skate. He could win and felt that it was much better to do the strategy of backloading rather than do a quad. His strategy for victory and layout of the program was all planned. His plan for victory was a quadless plan. He just did not care at all about the previous three winners and what they did. It is not that anybody who wins deserved to win or won in a good way for the sport. I don't think Lysacek was good at all for the sport of figure skating or the Olympics. Mishin and other people like Stojoko repeated that the Olympic motto was faster higher stronger. He does not define what a good Olympian is at all. The best American Olympian by far in my view was totally and completely was shaun White. Shaun White has his gold medal locked up. No one was going to beat Shaun White. He decided to do the hardest move ever because it was the Olympics. He didn't have to do it. He already won Gold. Shaun White is what defines the olympics. IN figure skating that move is the quad. Lysaceks win and strategy for winning remains depressing.
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