Evan Lysacek nearly flawless in golden performance

VANCOUVER, B.C. — After skating a flawless program, full of nifty footwork, tightly-wound spins and just enough spotless triple jumps, Evan Lysacek pumped his fists and shouted, "Yes, yes."

The first skater in the final six-man group at Thursday night's free skating program, Lysacek might as well have been shouting, "Quadruple that, Evgeni."

Under enormous Olympic pressure, Lysacek, the defending world champion who came into Thursday night in second place, was awarded a personal-best score of 167.37 and a total of 257.67.

He made it clear to defending Olympic champion Evgeni Plushenko that the Russian was going to have to back up all of his braggadocio and land every quadruple jump he attempted to win the gold. It was too much heat even for the usually icy cool Plushenko.

Although he had almost as many jumps in his program as an NBA All-Star dunk contest, Plushenko looked strangely mechanical. He bobbled the landing on a triple Lutz and looked uncomfortable landing his only quad.

And, without his usually sharp jumping, Plushenko didn't have enough in his repertoire to win.

On this night, the better artist beat the better athlete. Lysacek, the more complete skater, won gold. Plushenko, who was attempting to be the first repeat Olympic winner since Dick Button in 1948 and '52, earned the silver medal and Japan's Daisuke Takahashi won the bronze.

Lysacek is the first U.S. male skater to win gold since Brian Boitano in 1988 in Calgary.

His program may have been quad-free, but it was full of all of the difficult elements the judges demand. This isn't a phrase used often in sports, but it was elegant.

"Certainly there was an awful lot of talk about the quad," Lysacek's coach Frank Carroll said. "But I think what still came out was the best skating.

"As I like to explain, there this up and down thing about Plushenko. There is brilliance and then there is not-so-good and then brilliance and then not-so-good. But with Evan there's just this clean, straight line."

The only flaw for Lysacek was a strand of flyaway hair that fluttered in the breeze like a feather. There are, however, no gel deductions in skating.

This was one of the most compelling half hours of the Games. A clash of cultures. A collision of eras. A forum for the direction men's figure skating should take.

It was Lysacek's feet against Plushenko's flight. Lysacek's art versus Plushenko's aerials.

The question was whether their programs would be judged on degree of difficulty, or level of artistic excellence.

Plushenko is the best-ever leaper on skates. He believes in the quad, says, that in his sports' biggest event, it is the jump that separates gold from everything else.

He believes bold equals gold.

"We have to change the rules," he said after his silver performance.

Plushenko, who was the leader after the short program, takes the Olympic motto, "Faster, higher, stronger," literally. Lysacek interprets the motto differently. He is plenty fast enough and he showed the world on Thursday that there is strength in skating cleanly and beautifully. He was stronger-minded.

"If this was about one jump, they would give you 10 seconds and no music to go and do your best jump," Lysacek said. "But it's about every step, from the time you take the ice to the time you're finished.

"And that's what my focus was tonight, was getting every point I could out of that program. I've been perfecting four minutes and 40 minutes of skating for the last year of my life. It's taken more hours and more work than any quadruple jump ever could."

Lysacek was cooler in the caldron. He was smooth in his jumps and he was as quick-footed as a Pro Bowl running back. He earned the gold medal.

He believed in his program. He stayed grounded and finished golden.

Steve Kelley: 206-464-2176 or skelley@seattletimes.com