Evan Lysacek

Evan Lysacek of the US won the gold medal in men's figure skating by outdueling defending Olympic champion Yevgeny Plushenko of Russia at the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games.

Lysacek, who began the night in second place behind Plushenko, is the first member of Team USA to win gold in the event since Brian Boitano in 1988.

Evan Lysacek before the free skate: "Olympic gold is only awarded to one athlete every four years. I'm going to be on that podium and I'm going to do whatever it takes."

Scott Hamilton on Plushenko: "He's afraid of nothing."

Scott Hamilton on Lysacek: "Technically he did everything he came to do."

Tom Hammond on Lysacek: "Lysacek with the skate of his life."

Tom Hammond on Japan's Oda Nobunari after he had to stop mid-skate to fix his skate: "Well, at the Olympics you have to be ready for anything."

Scott Hamilton on Jonny Weir: "And that is the best he's ever been."

Tom Hammond on Weir: "He skated his life out here in Vancouver."

Scott Hamilton on Plushenko: "This guy's a cat - I don't know how he landed that one."

Sandra Bezic on Plushenko: "The program was nowhere near the level of Evan's."

Scott Hamilton on Plushenko: "Whatever the result, this guy is special."

Tom Hammond: "Lysacek wins gold."

Scott Hamilton: "The best trained athlete in the competition won the Olympic gold medal. - He deserved it. He earned it."

Tom Hammond: "When you can perform like that in the Olympic moment, that says something."

Scott Hamilton: "To win an Olympic gold medal, that's extraordinary. To win an Olympic gold medal against someone like Yevgeny Plushenko, who is awesome, that's like another gold medal."

EVAN LYSACEK ON HIS PERFORMANCE:

"I knew that I skated a winning performance for me. It was my absolute best on the Olympic stage, the most important moment of my life probably and that's all I can possibly ask for."

LYSACEK ON COMPETING IN SOCHI IN 2014 AFTER BEATING A RUSSIAN:

"I don't know if they're going to let me in the country now."

Scott Hamilton ON EVAN LYSACEK'S PERFORMANCE:

"I'll say this emphatically, he's the best trained, the most conditioned athlete in that event and it showed up on the most important night it needed to. He skated beautifully. He did everything he needed to do."

Scott Hamilton ON PLUSHENKO AND "THE QUAD" CONTROVERSY:

"He was rewarded for doing the quad triple combination. He's the only guy in the world right now that can depend on that combination. It's his greatest trick and it's his best asset. It's what he's going to throw out in front of everybody and he's absolutely right to do so. He's absolutely right to say that the future of figure skating should be in the quadruple jumps. You need to raise the levels of competition. The ISU needs to think about that. But you know what? It's figure skating. It's about skating and it's about the entire performance. That's one thing that I think has been lost on him. You can't do the same performance you did in Torino and expect to win four years later. The sport has evolved, and you're showing up at a championship to compete under set rules and guidelines, and you don't think they apply to you, generally, directly. I think that's a problem."

Scott Hamilton ON THE FUTURE OF MEN'S FIGURE SKATING:

"There a lot of guys whose description ended in 'teen,' and they're phenomenal. Nineteen year olds who are doing extraordinary things under this system of judging. They'll only get stronger and better."

Kim Yu-Na of South Korea Coronated with Gold
2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics - Ladies' Figure Skating

Kim Yu-Na of South Korea, the reigning world champion, won the ladies' figure skating gold at the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games, handily defeating Mao Asada of Japan and Joannie Rochette of Canada.

2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games
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