Lysacek expects to compete in Sochi | Golden Skate

Lysacek expects to compete in Sochi

aftertherain

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 15, 2010
Found this as one of the headlines on my Yahoo! homepage. I was quite surprised since American media doesn't usually seem to pay any attention to figure skating (didn't even mention the World Championships last month). Hence, my surprise at finding the link to this article near the top of the page.

And with this, SOCHI PR-ing HAS OFFICIALLY BEGUN! :biggrin:

Lysacek expects to compete in Sochi
By BARRY WILNER (AP Sports Writer)

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/lysacek-expects-compete-sochi-190729500--spt.html

Lysacek always has prided himself on being psychologically better than his competitors. There are some who believe his steadiness in Vancouver unnerved his main rival, Plushenko, who was sloppy in the free skate while Lysacek was near-perfect.

To Lysacek, a strong mind is as important as a fit body, which is saying a lot considering what a workaholic Lysacek is; longtime coach Frank Carroll often has had to ask Lysacek to cut back his time on the ice.

''My focus is like a laser right now,'' he said. ''I guess in a way I am lucky to have so much experiences, all those competitions throughout my career and to really know what works for me and what does not.

''It can be kind of an experimental process for the younger skaters, but I am able to have that laser focus and know what I need to do and, just as important, what I need not to do.''

One thing Lysacek didn't need much of before was the quad. His presentation, technical strength, emotion and attention to detail were his trademarks and carried him to the top of his profession.

But now ...

''I have a firm plan to put in a quad toe,'' Lysacek said of the four-revolution jump that, to him, has had a somewhat negative effect on the sport. ''It was going really well before all the complications of the last year, and it is a strong jump for me.

''A totally different question is what I think of the quad in competition, I still think it is more important to skate cleanly, which is still my goal and what I go for. I want to nail every trick and every pass. When I take off my skater's hat, I like to watch everyone skate clean.''

He would like to be the first men's repeat-OGM since Dick Button ... just like Plushenko did in 2010.
 

CanadianSkaterGuy

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 25, 2013
Hm... well, I guess good for him on attempting a comeback, but I think we'll have to see what happens when he hits the ice. He really should have started his bid this season. With the weak performances at Worlds he could have at least attempted a clean performance and made top 10 (or at least beaten Miner). But nowadays you need a quad in both programs to even be considered a contender. I'm not sure what he's planning to achieve or prove, but I'm not going to entirely count him out. He'll have to make it past Nationals first, and that will be difficult to say the least.
 

noskates

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 11, 2012
Well I just took a big gulp of air. Hope it lasts me until we realize he isn't going to make that comeback. He doesn't stand a chance in the men's field without quads. Ain't gonna happen! First of all I wish Evan well - but I think we can count the weeks/months before he's felled with another injury that will keep him out of the competition.
 

Eddie Lee

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 19, 2007
Of one thing I'm sure regarding Evan's return: If he is a 2014 Olympics participant, he will be well prepared both mentally and physically for the competition!
 

zschultz1986

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 18, 2013
Found this as one of the headlines on my Yahoo! homepage. I was quite surprised since American media doesn't usually seem to pay any attention to figure skating (didn't even mention the World Championships last month). Hence, my surprise at finding the link to this article near the top of the page.

And with this, SOCHI PR-ing HAS OFFICIALLY BEGUN! :biggrin:

Lysacek expects to compete in Sochi
By BARRY WILNER (AP Sports Writer)

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/lysacek-expects-compete-sochi-190729500--spt.html



He would like to be the first men's repeat-OGM since Dick Button ... just like Plushenko did in 2010.

Seriously, can't he go away? We already bought him one OGM, he shouldn't let it go to his head. He needs to look at the field like Michelle did in 2009. She saw the level of talent that she would have to go up against, and realized the the form she would have to produce was unlikely. It's going to be even more difficult that the field was for the women in 2010, the men in 2014. Not just on the World stage, but even here in the US. There aren't three spots, Evan, there are two, and the field is not what it was in 2009, where he, Johnny, and Jeremy were really all solidly in, since they were all Past Champions, and Johnny and Evan had won world medals (and Evan being the reigning WC). Going clean without a quad isn't gonna cut it.

You're gonna need to be pristine clean with everything plus the quads to do it. The final flight at the Olympics is going to be even tougher, Evan. You're definitely gonna need a quad in the SP to make the final flight. You're not facing a man in Plushenko who eschewed programs for jumps, or a triple Axel-less Lambiel, etc. You're gonna be up against men who can do it all and can do 3-4 Quads (Or in Reynolds' case, 5). I have no doubt you're going to work your *** off, Evan, you always do... I appreciate you in that way, your dedication is really bar none, I believe. Realistically, though, I don't see it happening. However, if you can do a quad in the short, and two quad in the long, and bring that fire the rest of the way. By all means, prove me wrong.

BTW, this is the key of the whole article (which you pointed out aftertherain):
''I have a firm plan to put in a quad toe,'' Lysacek said of the four-revolution jump that, to him, has had a somewhat negative effect on the sport. ''It was going really well before all the complications of the last year, and it is a strong jump for me.
''A totally different question is what I think of the quad in competition, I still think it is more important to skate cleanly, which is still my goal and what I go for. I want to nail every trick and every pass. When I take off my skater's hat, I like to watch everyone skate clean.''

Get serious and face the realization that you can't be clean w/o a quad and expect anything Clean + Quads is gonna be the name of the game. You can't have one or the other, Evan. It's gotta be both, or nothing.
 

pangtongfan

Match Penalty
Joined
Jun 16, 2010
This whole comeback is just a big PR stunt like Nastia's was. Maybe at one point it was legit but he got scared since he realized he wouldnt be as competitive as before (very true), then did have a legit injury or two, and now he is so far behind he wouldnt have a hope. However he will keep the charade going just for the attention since after Sochi there wont even be a little bit of interest in him anymore.

In the hugely unlikely event he does show up at Nationals though I would give him about 20% chance to make the team, and if he somehow makes the Games I would give him about 3% chance to finish any higher than say 7th place.
 

SkateFan66

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
He really should have started his bid this season.

Evan intended to compete this season. However, he was forced to WD from Skate America due to injury and subsequently had surgery on November 20. He was not cleared to resume on ice training until 2.5 weeks before US Nationals.

There have been many reports that, prior to the injury, Lysacek was skating at a very high level with a quad. Now the question is whether Lysacek can fully recover from the surgery and regain all of his jumps back.
 

zschultz1986

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 18, 2013
Evan intended to compete this season. However, he was forced to WD from Skate America due to injury and subsequently had surgery on November 20. He was not cleared to resume on ice training until 2.5 weeks before US Nationals.

There have been many reports that, prior to the injury, Lysacek was skating at a very high level with a quad. Now the question is whether Lysacek can fully recover from the surgery and regain all of his jumps back.

There were many reports that Michelle was skating well prior to Torino, too. We all saw what happened. Time will tell.
 

SkateFan66

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
There were many reports that Michelle was skating well prior to Torino, too. We all saw what happened. Time will tell.

Of course, time will tell. Lysacek will have to recover from the injury and then remain injury free until Sochi. However, time will tell for all the skaters. Hopefully ALL of the skaters can remain injury free and it will be a very competitive 2013-14 season.
 

zschultz1986

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 18, 2013
Of course, time will tell. Lysacek will have to recover from the injury and then remain injury free until Sochi. However, time will tell for all the skaters. Hopefully ALL of the skaters can remain injury free and it will be a very competitive 2013-14 season.

I can wholeheartedly get behind this statement.
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
There are some who believe his steadiness in Vancouver unnerved his main rival, Plushenko, who was sloppy in the free skate while Lysacek was near-perfect.

There is not one single person on the face of the earth who thinks this. :laugh:
 

gmyers

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 6, 2010
There is not one single person on the face of the earth who thinks this. :laugh:

It was totally brand new to his article! Never before written! Maybe lysacek told him that or Carroll did- somewhere. Was that the writers theory? In COr 2009 Russian nationals 2010 and euros 2010 plushenko doubled triples or tripled quads so at the Olympics plushenko did none of that? If anything the Olympics made plushenko the strongest he'd been all season!!!
 

chuckm

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Aug 31, 2003
Country
United-States
Even IF he recovers from his surgery and IF he gets his quad toe back, who can say if that will be enough? Some of the men are going for as many as three quads. One quad in the FS won't match that, and since he's been away for 4 years, his PCS may not be as high either.
 

aftertherain

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 15, 2010
Evan intended to compete this season. However, he was forced to WD from Skate America due to injury and subsequently had surgery on November 20. He was not cleared to resume on ice training until 2.5 weeks before US Nationals.

There have been many reports that, prior to the injury, Lysacek was skating at a very high level with a quad. Now the question is whether Lysacek can fully recover from the surgery and regain all of his jumps back
.

In an interview with Dave and Jenny, Tim Goebel (his old training mate under Frank Carroll), definitively stressed that Evan is the type to over-train. While it would be nice for him to go back to that level after his recovery, chances that he'll re-injure himself are likely if he continues on training like he does.
 

Nadia01

Final Flight
Joined
Nov 10, 2009
There are some who believe his steadiness in Vancouver unnerved his main rival, Plushenko, who was sloppy in the free skate while Lysacek was near-perfect.

Really? Like who...?
 

karne

in Emergency Backup Mode
Record Breaker
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Jan 1, 2013
Country
Australia
Give it up already, Lysacek.

Men's skating has moved on from your mediocrity and personally I think it's really super-arrogant that he expects to just stroll into Nationals after not having competed in three years and win or come second. Hope Max, Ross, Ricky, Joshua and Jason all kick his over-rated orange hiney.
 

pangtongfan

Match Penalty
Joined
Jun 16, 2010
Give it up already, Lysacek.

Men's skating has moved on from your mediocrity and personally I think it's really super-arrogant that he expects to just stroll into Nationals after not having competed in three years and win or come second. Hope Max, Ross, Ricky, Joshua and Jason all kick his over-rated orange hiney.

ROTFL very well said. Granted mens skating still is at a very low state, which Chan falling 4 or 5 times and winning every event, but even Chan with 4 or 5 falls now that he is doing quads is way better than a clean Lysacek (I mean in terms of the actual skating merit, before even getting into the extra points Chan would get for being Chan).

Anyway the USFSA actually were part of him not competing at Nationals 2012. That shows he is not a USFSA favorite anymore. He probably wont get any help or reputation points from the judges if he skates at Nationals, and without that help he is unlikely to outskate a handful of the current U.S men.
 

TontoK

Hot Tonto
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Jan 28, 2013
Country
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There are certainly a lot of nay-sayers on the thread. Chiming in with a contrasting opinion...

I don't know if Evan is seriously about his Olympic bid or not...

But, think about it... There was certainly not much from the men at the WC that would scare him away.

I've heard he's working on the quad. Fine.

However, his quad-less Olympic SP/LP might have won the WC this year. I think it would almost certainly have medaled.

We can poetically "ooh and ahh" how Chan, Hanyu, Dai, and so forth woulda/shoulda/coulda skated. But at the most important event of the year, less than one year out from the Olympic Games... it wasn't good from any of the main challengers.

By the way... I don't think Plushenko was intimidated by what he saw, either.
 

evangeline

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 7, 2007
But, think about it... There was certainly not much from the men at the WC that would scare him away.

I've heard he's working on the quad. Fine.

However, his quad-less Olympic SP/LP might have won the WC this year. I think it would almost certainly have medaled.

I highly doubt Lysacek's Olympics programs could have won WC this year. Ten had his errors, but he had quads in both programs (unlike Lysacek) and far better quality jumps (especially the 3A) anyways. If Ten wasn't able to beat Chan, it's highly unlikely Lysacek would have. It's not like Lysacek is a shining beacon of superior skating skills, choreography or interpretation.

That said, I think Lysacek could have medaled (bronze at best), but 2013 Worlds was pretty much a disastrous competition in one way or another for every single top male skater except for Denis Ten. Lysacek's Olympic programs have pretty much zero chance of winning (or even medalling) at either 2011 or 2012 Worlds and I think that's pretty indicative of something. It's far too risky for Lysacek to hope that all the men would have a collective meltdown again at Sochi...it could happen, I guess. But he'd be a fool to hope for it, and I doubt he is, if he's prattling about getting a quad even when he hasn't successfully landed one in competition for many years. He knows he has to skate better than he did at the Olympics to compete in the field today.
 

Bluebonnet

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 18, 2010
However, his quad-less Olympic SP/LP might have won the WC this year. I think it would almost certainly have medaled.

It's not 2010 when quad value was lower. Lysacek's Olympic SP/LP won't give him any chance to touch the 2013's world podium, not to mention the WC. He couldn't have beaten Aaron at 2013 US Nationals either.

Gosh, hasn't he felt tiring to beat the drum the same way over and over?
 
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