{"id":52,"date":"2010-02-19T13:15:08","date_gmt":"2010-02-19T13:15:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/inspirationreport\/2010\/02\/winter-olympics-evan-lysacek-wins-gold-medal-in-figure-skating.html"},"modified":"2010-02-19T13:15:08","modified_gmt":"2010-02-19T13:15:08","slug":"winter-olympics-evan-lysacek-wins-gold-medal-in-figure-skating","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2010\/02\/winter-olympics-evan-lysacek-wins-gold-medal-in-figure-skating.html","title":{"rendered":"Winter Olympics: Evan Lysacek Wins Gold Medal in Figure Skating"},"content":{"rendered":"

Did you catch figure skater Evan Lysacek’s<\/a> amazing performance last night?<\/p>\n

The 24-year-old American figure skater won his first Olympic medal over defending title champion 27-year-old Russan figure skater Yevgeny Plushenko.<\/p>\n

Lysacek was also the first winner to achive a gold medal without a quadruple jump–a jump with four spins or rotations in the air<\/a>–in his long program since Alexei Urmanov in 1994.  He also set two other records: the first American to win a gold medal since Brian Boitano in 1988 and the first World Champion to win an Olympic medal since Scott Hamilton in 1984. <\/p>\n

Raised by a grandmother who dreamed about being in the Ice Capades, Lysacek received his first ice skates from her and began skating at 8-years-old.  By the time he was 10, Lysacek had qualified for the Junior Olympics.  He skated in a blue superhero costume of his own design with gold lightning bolts on it.  He won the Junior Olympics and, ever since, he has worn a necklace with a gold lightning bolt for luck–luck which hit him in Vancouver.<\/p>\n

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Four years ago at Turin, Lysacek had suffered from stomach flu and skated a disappointing short program.  Despite being ill and unable to practice, he didn’t withdraw from the long program; instead, he persevered and came in fourth place. <\/p>\n

This year, while Plushenko seemed to have the technical advantage, with the uncanny ability to land huge jumps, Lysacek had a combined technical and artistic advantage, skating his personal best.  <\/p>\n

“I couldn’t have asked for much more than that…A personal best on the most important night of my life. I feel great about that performance.” (NYTimes.com<\/a>)  <\/p>\n

At 71, Frank Carroll, Lysacek’s coach, had instructed former Olympians including Michelle Kwan but none had achieved a gold medal until Thursday night.  The Olympic victory, then, was equally as sweet and meaningful for both men.  <\/p>\n

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Read more on Evan Lysacek<\/strong>:<\/p>\n