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Evan Lysacek: He’s busy, busy busy -- even without the quad

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Two-time U.S. figure skating champion Evan Lysacek is an occasional contributor to The Fabulous Forum. He dispatched his latest entry from Rapid City, S.D., where he’s taping the Progressive Skating and Gymnastics Spectacular, which is scheduled to be aired Jan. 18 on NBC. The show will feature several Beijing Olympians -- including all-around gold and silver medalists Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson -- as well as Caroline Zhang and Rachael Flatt. Lysacek will also perform a number with his girlfriend, Olympic silver medal-winning ice dancer Tanith Belbin.

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As we get closer to the start of the 2009 skating season, all sights are set on the biggest skating event of the skating year, the U.S. championships.

It is an especially pertinent event, as we are just about one year away from the Olympic flame being passed to Vancouver for the XXI Winter Games. The competition in Cleveland will set the United States’ 2009 World Team. And the 2009 World Championships to be held in Los Angeles will determine the number of entries each country will get for the Vancouver Games.

And, for me, as a proud Angeleno, the 2009 World Championships is particularly relevant because it will be held at my favorite building in the world, Staples Center.

In preparation for these events, I’ve intensified my training considerably. I have added an hour to my daily regimen and started more dance training to enhance my on-ice presentation. Coming into this event as the two-time and defending champion, I know what it will take to battle the eager challengers. I am pushing myself to my physical limit to gain strength and confidence.

Before leaving for Rapid City, I was running through my program at the Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo for about seven hours a day. I’m practicing my routine with and without a quadruple jump, and will make the call during the competition on whether or not to incorporate the jump.

As intense as my training has been, I find it’s important to break up the daily grind. I found time for a very fun and special charity event for The Make a Difference Network hosted by Jessica Biel. I also participated in the Live Positively Holiday Parade presented by Coca-Cola held in downtown Los Angeles. I got to ride in a car with up-and-coming vocalist Paula DeAnda. I’m also very excited to be performing in the Progressive Skating and Gymnastics Spectacular. The show features amazing Olympic star power along with live music performed by Raven Symone.

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The show combines Olympic figure skaters Joannie Rochette, Todd Eldredge, Tanith Belbin and myself with Beijing Olympics stars Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin. And a live musical act makes this one of the most unique shows of the year. We have all become good friends and are eager for audiences to see our collaboration on this project.

We cheered on the gymnasts in Beijing as they walked away with several gold, silver, and bronze medals. They are talking about coming to Cleveland to cheer us on at the U.S. Championships, and to Los Angeles to support us at the World Championships. The gymnasts have brought to our attention how cold our training conditions are, and suggested that we try switching sports so we can train in shorts, or at least only one layer!

-- Evan Lysacek

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