Courage Day Part 1: Evan's Year
This first installment of Courage Day focuses on what exactly Evan has done over the past year- meaning, other than my obvious bias towards thinking he's great, I'm not going to be talking about my own experiences...this is more just a recap of Evan himself.
A year and two days ago today (or yesterday, if this posts after midnight), Evan Lysacek had a disastrous experience in the short program at the Olympics, leaving him in tenth place and very disheartened. That night he got really sick, and instead of spending the next day practicing, he spent it in the hospital and not sure if he'd be able to skate the next night.
But, skate the next night he did- a year ago today (or, a year ago yesterday by the time this gets posted, most likely).
In the free program, Evan completely turned things around. He skated a personal best, and his free skate score was the third best of the night (and higher than that of the silver medalist). He moved all the way up from tenth place to fourth, and his skate that night is STILL talked about. It would have been an amazing skate no matter what, but the circumstances that he was in just made it all the more... well, dare I say it, courageous.
Next up after the Olympics: World Championships. Evan had a similar experience with a disappointing short program, and was also sick again, having chest pain and coughing up blood. Still, he managed to produce another incredible Carmen. The score wasn't quite as high as at the Olympics, but this skate had two things come with it that did not happen at the Olympics: first, Evan stood up on the quad. It was a two-footed landing (jumps have to be landed on one foot to get complete credit), but he stood it up, so that was good. The second thing that came with this skate was a medal- Evan's second straight world bronze.
After Worlds, Evan set out on tour with Champions on Ice- the length of the tour was extended since it was an Olympic year, so he was out on the road with them all late spring/summer. (He also did a Marshall's event, but more about that in Part 2.) In Champions On Ice, Evan was forced to wear costumes such as the first two pictures you are about to see, but he also got to skate in sweat pants to a fun, crowd-pleasing number that was very well-received.
The Grand Prix series started, and Evan's first event was Skate America, where he placed second. This was where he debuted his new short program to "The Feeling Begins," coreographed by Kurt Browning.
Evan's second Grand Prix competition was a few weeks later at Cup of China. He won this event, and recieved his first Grand Prix gold medal. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find many pictures form this one, but here are two:
Evan's placements at his two Grand Prix events put him in the top six overall (fourth in the standings, to be exact), which meant that he qualified for the Grand Prix Final in Russia. When he got there, however (after another Marshall's event, which will again be addressed in the next post), he hurt himself during practice. Specifically, he fell very hard on his hip while practicing his quad. He pressed on, as he always does, but when he got to the warmup for the short program, it just wasn't possible. Fighting through illness is one thing, but when your leg just plain isn't working the way it's supposed to, all the courage in the world won't make it happen. Evan withdrew from the competition and came home. He was told that it was possible that he would be out for six weeks- and Nationals were in six weeks. He had been hoping to win his first National title this season, and it was suddenly a very real possibility that he would not even be able to compete there.
...but, Evan again pushed through it, and was able to get to Nationals. Not only did he make it to Nationals... he did a great, clean short program there, for the first time in a long time. He led by less than a point, and even though he was in the lead, STILL skated the freeskate as if he needed to make a comeback. He landed his first clean, one-foot quad, and in combination to boot. It was an astounding performance, the night was his, and he won by about thirty points overall.
As if Nationals weren't enough, Evan went right on to the Four Continents Championship (an international event, held in Colorado this year). He struggled again with the short, but as always, he pulled ahead in the free- this time, it was HUGE. He was ten points off from the lead going in, and he ended up winning the freeskate by THIRTEEN points, which gave him three-point lead overall. The freeskate gave Evan a new international personal best (his Nationals skate was better, but national championships are not counted towards international records).
So, there you have a year in the life of Evan Lysacek. Seeing all of it laid out like this amazes me, and makes me so happy to have discovered him- I only wish I had done so sooner! But, I have a feeling there are many years ahead that will be even better, and I can't wait for them to start. :)
A year and two days ago today (or yesterday, if this posts after midnight), Evan Lysacek had a disastrous experience in the short program at the Olympics, leaving him in tenth place and very disheartened. That night he got really sick, and instead of spending the next day practicing, he spent it in the hospital and not sure if he'd be able to skate the next night.
But, skate the next night he did- a year ago today (or, a year ago yesterday by the time this gets posted, most likely).
In the free program, Evan completely turned things around. He skated a personal best, and his free skate score was the third best of the night (and higher than that of the silver medalist). He moved all the way up from tenth place to fourth, and his skate that night is STILL talked about. It would have been an amazing skate no matter what, but the circumstances that he was in just made it all the more... well, dare I say it, courageous.
Next up after the Olympics: World Championships. Evan had a similar experience with a disappointing short program, and was also sick again, having chest pain and coughing up blood. Still, he managed to produce another incredible Carmen. The score wasn't quite as high as at the Olympics, but this skate had two things come with it that did not happen at the Olympics: first, Evan stood up on the quad. It was a two-footed landing (jumps have to be landed on one foot to get complete credit), but he stood it up, so that was good. The second thing that came with this skate was a medal- Evan's second straight world bronze.
After Worlds, Evan set out on tour with Champions on Ice- the length of the tour was extended since it was an Olympic year, so he was out on the road with them all late spring/summer. (He also did a Marshall's event, but more about that in Part 2.) In Champions On Ice, Evan was forced to wear costumes such as the first two pictures you are about to see, but he also got to skate in sweat pants to a fun, crowd-pleasing number that was very well-received.
The Grand Prix series started, and Evan's first event was Skate America, where he placed second. This was where he debuted his new short program to "The Feeling Begins," coreographed by Kurt Browning.
Evan's second Grand Prix competition was a few weeks later at Cup of China. He won this event, and recieved his first Grand Prix gold medal. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find many pictures form this one, but here are two:
Evan's placements at his two Grand Prix events put him in the top six overall (fourth in the standings, to be exact), which meant that he qualified for the Grand Prix Final in Russia. When he got there, however (after another Marshall's event, which will again be addressed in the next post), he hurt himself during practice. Specifically, he fell very hard on his hip while practicing his quad. He pressed on, as he always does, but when he got to the warmup for the short program, it just wasn't possible. Fighting through illness is one thing, but when your leg just plain isn't working the way it's supposed to, all the courage in the world won't make it happen. Evan withdrew from the competition and came home. He was told that it was possible that he would be out for six weeks- and Nationals were in six weeks. He had been hoping to win his first National title this season, and it was suddenly a very real possibility that he would not even be able to compete there.
...but, Evan again pushed through it, and was able to get to Nationals. Not only did he make it to Nationals... he did a great, clean short program there, for the first time in a long time. He led by less than a point, and even though he was in the lead, STILL skated the freeskate as if he needed to make a comeback. He landed his first clean, one-foot quad, and in combination to boot. It was an astounding performance, the night was his, and he won by about thirty points overall.
As if Nationals weren't enough, Evan went right on to the Four Continents Championship (an international event, held in Colorado this year). He struggled again with the short, but as always, he pulled ahead in the free- this time, it was HUGE. He was ten points off from the lead going in, and he ended up winning the freeskate by THIRTEEN points, which gave him three-point lead overall. The freeskate gave Evan a new international personal best (his Nationals skate was better, but national championships are not counted towards international records).
So, there you have a year in the life of Evan Lysacek. Seeing all of it laid out like this amazes me, and makes me so happy to have discovered him- I only wish I had done so sooner! But, I have a feeling there are many years ahead that will be even better, and I can't wait for them to start. :)