Olympian inspires dreams in youth

Olympic gold medalist and figure skater Evan Lysacek got up-close and personal with Allen residents Tuesday during a day-long visit to the city.

Lysacek visited two Allen elementary schools, performed a skating demonstration at the Allen Community Ice Rink and signed autographs at The Village at Allen’s Grove Pavilion. The day’s events pumped up residents for his upcoming appearance at the Progressive Skating and Gymnastics Spectacular Oct. 3 in Allen.

Lysacek was greeted with a deafening chorus of student cheers as he entered the Chandler Elementary gym, where he gave a group of 310 students a crash-course in goal-setting, hard work and proper nutrition.

During his speech, Lysacek chronicled his career from his first competition at age 10 through his gold medal victory at the 2010 Olympics, emphasizing the role determination, focus and training played in his success.

Lysacek said the advice that made the biggest impact on his life came from his mother: “If someone’s better than you at something, you have to work twice as hard.”

Lysacek also said despite his massive success, he’s not ready to rest on his laurels.

“I have set the goal to keep moving,” he said.

Chandler Elementary Principal Cindy Blair said Lysacek was an inspiration to the students.

“He’s very sincere, very humble and very grounded,” she said. “Our students are always looking for everyday heroes, and he is a hero.”

From there, Lysacek made his way to the community ice rink at the Allen Event Center for a skating session with area students and a skating lesson for fellow Olympic gold medalist and gymnast Nastia Liukin. He then made his way to the nearby Grove Pavilion at The Village at Allen for an autograph signing and pictures with fans.

Isla Kennedy, an aspiring figure skater from McKinney, was one of the many fans who got a chance to meet Lysacek. Her mother, Victoria, took her out of school early so she could have a chance to meet him.

“He deserved the win,” Victoria said. “His performance was clean and graceful. We never missed a minute of the Olympics when he was on.”

This year, Lysacek became the first American to win the men’s figure skating title in the Winter Olympics since 1988. In March, he was a regular contestant on ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars,” securing second place with dance partner Anna Trebunskaya in the finals.

Earlier in the day, Lysacek visited Anderson Elementary in Allen and Dowell Middle School in McKinney. Lysacek said the wide ambitions of the children he spoke to made a large impact on him.

“They wanted to be paleontologists,” he said. “(They would say) ‘I want to be a chef, I want to be a video game designer.’ They have huge goals and they’re not tainted by the world and forced reality yet, so it’s kind of cool to hear them in their purest form, to hear what their goals are.”

While Lysacek is still debating his options for the future, he says his core belief system of hard work and training will remain unchanged.

“My philosophy has been really simple,” he said. “Hard work and success have a direct correlation. I think anything is possible, and regardless of the path that I chose in my life, I think whatever path I would have chosen, I would have found a way to achieve it. Whatever goals I have now, I will find a way to achieve them.”

The Progressive Skating and Gymnastics Spectacular will feature Lysacek and Liukin and will be held at the Allen Event Center. Tickets are on sale now. For information, visit www.alleneventcenter.com/.

Liukin will return to Allen Sept. 22 to promote the event.

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