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2014 Sochi Olympics

Evan Lysacek gets different view of Olympics in Sochi

Nancy Armour
USA TODAY Sports
Evan Lysacek, the 2010 gold medalist, says this year's men's Olympic field is the deepest he has seen.
  • After injury ends comeback%2C Lysacek in Sochi as %22TODAY%22 correspondent
  • Watching team event so difficult%2C Lysacek %22almost left%22
  • 2010 Olympic champ sees men%27s field as one of deepest ever

SOCHI, Russia -- Watching figure skating at the Sochi Olympics is every bit as hard as Evan Lysacek thought it would be.

The 2010 Olympic champion had hoped to be competing in Sochi, trying to become the first man since Dick Button to defend his title. Instead, he's here as a correspondent for NBC's "TODAY" show after a torn labrum in his left hip forced him to abandon his comeback in December.

Though he had spent several days watching practices, Lysacek said it was a far different feeling to be in the stands for the first night of the team competition.

"I almost left," he admitted.

Sitting with some folks from the U.S. Olympic Committee, who didn't know much about figure skating, helped. Lysacek spent much of the night explaining the scoring and the programs, not leaving him much time to dwell on the fact he wasn't on the ice.

That might not be quite so easy Thursday, when the men's competition begins.

Lysacek has sized up the field, both when he was training and here in Sochi, and says it's one of the deepest he's ever seen. Canada's Patrick Chan has won the last three world titles. Yuzuru Hanyu is on the rise after winning the Grand Prix final and Japanese title, but Lysacek said all three of the Japanese men could be a factor.

There's also Spain's Javier Fernandez, the two-time European champion.

"The guys with the best speed are the ones to watch," Lysacek said. "You see the way Hanyu and Patrick and (France's Florent) Amodio have the speed, and that's important. It shows they are in great shape, too."

Lysacek already was impressed with what he saw of Hanyu throughout the season and in practices. But the American said he was amazed with how comfortable and confident the 19-year-old looked in the team competition.

Hanyu won the short program in a rout, beating Evgeni Plushenko by more than six points.

"He doesn't seem (fazed) by the Olympics," Lysacek said. "I think he is really in the moment."

Chan struggled in the short, doing only a quadruple-double combination and botching his triple axel. But Lysacek said he doesn't see that as a sign of trouble for Chan, who has been considered vulnerable since he lost to Hanyu at the Grand Prix final in December.

"His focus is on the individual event," Lysacek said.

Lysacek also was impressed with Plushenko, the Turin Olympic champion.

"I think he's even more fit than he was in Vancouver," Lysacek said.

Plushenko looked strong in the short program. But the 31-year-old, who has a history of back problems, was clearly struggling at the end of his free skate in the team event, and his biggest competition might be his own body – a foe Lysacek knows all too well.

But there's no use regretting what might have been. Instead, Lysacek is focused on what's ahead.

"I think it will be great and very close," he said. "There are so many guys who can medal here."

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