While other guys sweat the Olympic team, Lysacek more concerned with changes to his program

Lysacek testing free skate changes at nationals

SPOKANE, Wash. — Evan Lysacek is concerned about the results at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships. Not the ones you might think, however.

The reigning world champion has made some big changes to his free skate since winning the Grand Prix final last month to pump up his technical score. He is now doing a quadruple toe loop jump at the beginning of the program, has replaced his three-jump combination with a triple flip-double axel sequence and is doing a triple flip instead of a double axel at the end.

He also has been working on the speed and transitions into his jumps in his short program.

“I really feel ready for Vancouver,” Lysacek said Thursday. “But I’m happy to have this as a test because I do have some changes and I want to see if they work.”

The men’s short program is Friday and the final is Sunday. While the three-man Olympic team won’t be named until then, Lysacek is all but assured of a spot. In addition to nationals, U.S. Figure Skating officials will consider results from the world championships, the Grand Prix final, the 2009 Four Continents, junior Grand Prix final and last year’s junior worlds.

Lysacek won worlds and the Grand Prix final, and was second at Four Continents.

“I’m prepared. I’ve done the work at home and I know I’m ready,” he said. “I think it’s as prepared as I’ve ever been.”

He’s looked strong in practices, landing his quad with ease Thursday and skating with an air of confidence that draws all eyes to him.

“I think he’s the best,” coach Frank Carroll said. “I think he’s the most passionate and interpretive skater in the field.”

That’s shown in his marks this season. When Lysacek won the Grand Prix final, his component marks — the old artistic mark — were higher than anyone else’s. But he gave up points on his technical score.

So he and Carroll played with his program, moving jumps around and playing with different combinations. Not only did they find a way to increase his technical score, they made practice a little more fun.

“To be able to experiment and make changes and enhance the program and be stepping up your game at different points of the season is pretty cool,” he said.

Of course, so would winning a third national title.

“Three is my lucky number,” said Lysacek, who hasn’t ruled out competing after this year. “I’d like to have three.”

IT’S IN: Rena Inoue and John Baldwin have brought the throw triple axel back.

The two-time U.S. pairs champions had dropped their signature move the last two seasons because of the way it is valued under the new judging system. The throw triple axel is so tough few couples even practice it, yet its base value of 7.5 points is just two points higher than a throw triple lutz or throw triple flip.

A team can be penalized up to a point more for a fall, too.

But when Inoue and Baldwin committed to skating this year, they decided they were going to do what made them happy — regardless of how it went over with the judges.

“A lot of people came up to us and said they wanted to see it, asked if we were going to do it,” Inoue said after Thursday’s practice. “That kind of stuff really motivated us. There are people who want to see that, so it’s worth it to do it.”

Added Baldwin, “We’re the ones who have to live with the performance. … (Playing it safe) wasn’t working for us, and we’ve had regrets.”

No more.

That’s their attitude about nationals, too. The United States can send only two teams to the Vancouver Olympics, and Inoue and Baldwin were third last year.

“We’re in a more comfortable place than ever,” Baldwin said. “We’ve already gone to the Olympics, we’ve already been national champions. We can almost relax and enjoy ourselves.”

Of course, they wouldn’t mind going back to the Olympics. The two were seventh in Turin, and Inoue also represented her native Japan in 1992 and 1994.

“That would be great if it happens,” Inoue said. “But we are giving this year to ourselves.”

ARE YOU EXPERIENCED?: Caydee Denney and Jeremy Barrett won’t be surprising anyone this year.

Denney and Barrett had been together all of six months when they won the silver medal in pairs at last year’s U.S. Figure Skating Championships, almost unheard of success in a sport where it often takes years to develop the chemistry and harmony of a world-class pairs team.

They followed that with a ninth-place finish at the world championships.

“We feel more prepared than we did last year,” Barrett said after Thursday’s practice. “The extra year together has really helped us. We feel very comfortable.”

Denney and Barrett displayed strong chemistry last year, but it was their athleticism that stood out. Denney skated singles through last season, and that experience shows in their side-by-side and throw jumps. Rarely do they botch or pop jumps, and she smoothly lands the throws.

Denney said she decided not to skate this singles this year so she and Barrett could concentrate on pairs. It is, after all, an important year.

“We think about (the Olympics) a lot this year,” Barrett acknowledged. “We were second last year, so obviously we’re looking for that or to improve on that.”

Added Denney, “Right now, it’s all about nationals.”

NOT A FAN: Not everyone is a fan of the decision to spread the U.S. Figure Skating Championships over two weekends.

U.S. Figure Skating made the switch to mimic the Olympic schedule, where the pairs and men compete the first week and the dance and ladies finish the second week. NBC also wanted two weekends’ worth of programming; all four finals will be shown live on the network.

But it means there’s a week between the pairs and men’s finals and the exhibition. Some of the skaters are staying in Spokane but others, including Jeremy Abbott and Johnny Weir, say they’ll go home to train and then return if they make the Olympic team.

“I know that we needed the support of NBC and they wanted to do something that was very Olympic,” Weir said. “It’s just a hassle, especially this close to the Olympic Games.”