Lysacek takes a turn (out) for the worse

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Evan Lysacek is a quadruple threat no longer.

And, at least in the eyes of the judges at Skate Canada, not much of a threat at all.

The two-time U.S. champion and two-time bronze medalist at the world championships finished fourth in the free skate (and third overall) Saturday afternoon with a program that no longer has a quadruple jump and, to be frank, looked like a junior-level free skate -- especially compared to the technical difficulty of the program that brought the Naperville, Ill., skater his first U.S. title in 2007.

Lysacek (shown at left during his short program)dumped the quad after falling on it last week at Skate America.

That left him with a program that has no triple axel-triple toe loop combination.

Less than a year ago, Lysacek said he had added the quad to his short program because ‘I’m trying to improve the technical difficulty of my skating.’’

Now he feels the jump apparently is not worth the risk.

But what he was left with could not beat a free skate with three major errors that Canada’s Patrick Chan produced, so mediocre overall even Chan was surprised it was good enough to win the competition (largely on the strength of his short program score, as Chan was third in the free skate, which included a fall).

‘I’ll deserve it next time,’’ Chan shouted after the scores went up.

At the 2007 nationals, Lysacek did quad toe-triple toe and triple axel-triple toe combinations.

Saturday, his only triple-triple was a yawner: triple flip-triple toe.

So now Lysacek has finished third in consecutive Grand Prix events, meaning his chances of qualifying for the Grand Prix final are minimal.

He has made the final the last two seasons.

Not getting there is a step backward.

So is taking the quad from his program.

The best thing that can be said about Lysacek’s skating Saturday is he stood on his feet.

Now, even though two of the world’s best men (world champions Jeffrey Buttle and Stephane Lambiel) retired before this season, Lysacek is rapidly losing his standing in the sport.

-- Philip Hersh