By Jesse Liebman -- February
19, 2010
For the first time since 1988, the music played during the men's figure skating competition was "The Star-Spangled Banner." Skater Evan Lysacek could only stand at the podium in bewilderment.
"I was nervous but that comes from just wanting it so badly," said Lysacek, 24, who was a lonely fourth in 2006. "I saw the American flag go up, and I wouldn't believe it was for me."
Lysacek upset defending champion Evgeni Plushenko of Russia at the Vancouver Games on Thursday night, becoming the first American man to win figure skating gold since Brian Boitano 22 years ago. Plushenko was so confident he'd won that he held up both index fingers after his free skate.
"I was positive that I won. But I suppose Evan needs a medal more than I do," Plushenko said through a translator. "Maybe it's because I already have one. But I have to share with you, two silver and one Olympic gold medal is not too bad."
Lysacek, the reigning world champion, finished with a career-best 257.67, 1.31 ahead of Plushenko. Daisuke Takahashi won the bronze, the first Japanese man to win a figure skating medal at the Olympic Games.
The fact that Lysacek pulled off the victory is all the more incredible when it's taken into consideration that he won without performing a critical quadruple jump.
"If the Olympic champion doesn't know how to jump a quad, I don't know," Plushenko said. "Now it's not men's figure skating, now it's dancing."
Lysacek edged Plushenko on the mark for their technical elements -- jumps, spins and footwork. That's essentially the three-time Olympic medalist and three-time world champion's bread and butter.
Now, Lysacek can bask in the Olympic glory.
"I could have stood up there for hours and thought about every moment of training that I was thinking, 'God, what if one day?'" Lysacek said. "And it kept me going and it pushed me."
