(Photo by Matthew Stockman, Getty Images Sport)
Fresh from his successful stint on Dancing with the Stars, current Olympic champion Evan Lysacek is ready to face judges again, but for a different kind of score, and this time, the audience cannot text in their votes.
Lysacek is returning to the competitive figure skating circuit this fall, after a year and a half of various pursuits, including touring with the ice skating show Stars on Ice, appearing at various sponsor events and charities, and of course his turn on the dance floor.
Lysacek at the 18th ESPY Awards (Photo by: Jason Merritt, Getty Images)
Coming back to compete is difficult no matter what sport it is. After the 2006 Olympics, I missed two season and then decided to compete again. It was far harder to regain the timing and technique that before had become second nature. Returning to the rigors of the competitive routine and lifestyle requires unyielding determination. Lysacek has about three full months before the first competition of the season. He’s been on skates with Stars on Ice, so he is already ahead of the game in that respect. He recently resumed training with coach Frank Carroll in California, and told Icenetwork, “I am just in the early stages of my training.” Lysacek’s return to competition will certainly shake up the men’s field. After seeing Lysacek train a few years ago, I believe if he says he’s coming back he will make a large splash.
Lysacek is slated to do two competitions in the Grand Prix series. The Grand Prix series consists of six events around the world with competitors from 18 countries. Each event consists of ten men, ten women, eight pairs and eight ice dance couples. The top six competitors in each discipline, after the six events, qualify for the Grand Prix Final.
The first event is on home turf– Skate America in Ontario, California on October 21. The series continues with Skate Canada (Mississauga), Cup of China (Shanghai), NHK Trophy (Sapporo), Tropheé Eric Bompard (Paris), and Cup of Russia (Moscow). The series will feature Olympic ice dance champions Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir (Canada), reigning World champions Patrick Chan (Canada), Aliona Savochenko and Robin Szolkowy (Germany) and Meryl Davis and Charlie White (USA) among other national and international champions. The United States Figure Skating Association chooses its competitors at the Grand Prix competitions based on past performance.
Evan is scheduled to compete in Skate America and Tropheé Eric Bompard. Olympic champions usually do not return to competitive skating after taking home figure skating’s biggest prize but Lysacek has some company. Brian Boitano, who was the last American male before Lysacek to win the Olympics in 1988, made a comeback and qualified for the 1994 Olympics. Sarah Hughes, 2002 Olympic champion, also returned to the ice in 2003. Most recently, Evgeni Plushenko, 2006 Olympic champion, made one of the biggest comebacks last year at the Vancouver Olympics. After a few years of semi retirement, Plushenko decided to compete again and ended up earning the silver medal last year.
He ended up in second place on Dancing with the Stars, but it looks like now he is going for the gold, again, on the ice.
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If you liked this story, check out: Five Awesome Pics From The World Cup Final.
Emily Hughes was a member of the 2006 Olympic Team in Figure Skating, where she finished 7th and is a silver medalist at the National Championships. She now splits her time between Boston where she is finishing her degree at Harvard University and New York, where she is being awesome.
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