Greek American Evan Lysacek Wins Gold Medal in Figure Skating

By on February 19, 2010 in News

evan-lysacek1Evan Lysacek is a young Greek-American that filled everyone with pride upon winning his Gold medal for ice skating. In the biggest event of his lif; Lysacek didn’t try the most daring routine, but he hit nearly every move he picked. He became the first U.S. man to win the Olympic gold medal since Brian Boitano in 1988, shocking everyone — including himself — blowing away his defending champion Yevgeny Plushenko on Thursday night. “It was definitely my best, and that’s what I came here to do,” Lysacek said.

Lysacek was a member of the U.S. Olympic Team at the 2006 Winter Olympics, where he placed 4th in the men’s event. On March 26, 2009, he became the first American man since Todd Eldredge in 1996 to win the World Figure Skating Championships. He was the United States Olympic Committee’s Male Athlete of the Month for November 2006 and March 2009. As of January 2010, Lysacek was ranked 2nd in the world.

Lysacek began skating at the age of eight. His grandmother had always wanted to be in the Ice Capades, so she bought him skates for Christmas. He originally wanted to play hockey, so his mother enrolled him and his sister Laura in figure skating lessons to learn how to skate. Lysacek was soon competing as a figure skater.”

The Greek-American was born in Chicago, Illinois and raised in Naperville, Illinois. He has an older sister, Laura, and a younger sister, Christina, who played on a nationally ranked volleyball team. Lysacek graduated from Neuqua Valley High School in 2003. In high school, Lysacek was a member of the honor roll, and earned a number of academic achievement awards, including the Presidential Award for Academic Excellence in 1999. He is a Greek Orthodox Christian, having stated that one of his most prized possessions is his Orthodox cross.

During his participation  at the 2010 Winter Olympics in the men’s event representing the United States,  he won the title, not only becoming the first American to win the title since Brian Boitano in 1988, and the first reigning world champion to win since Scott Hamilton in 1984. It also was the first time since 1992 that a Russian skater didn’t win the gold medal in the men’s division.
Lysacek moved to Los Angeles, California in 2003 following his graduation from high school. He trains at the Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo, California.

He also studies acting, having taken method acting classes at the Professional Arts School in Beverly Hills. He appeared in the independent short film Skate Great!, playing a Russian Olympic gold medalist.



  • Dave

    Is he really Greek? No doubt that his religion is Greek Orthodox, but I'm not sure that he's actually of Greek descent.

    His mother is half Italian (Santoro) and half Anglo (Ward). His father's last name Lysacek is some sort of Eastern European.

    • Anastasios Papaposto

      He is of Greek descent as he has stated himself in a recent interview with Los Angeles magazine. Eastern European countries have big Greek populations. Many of the Greeks there were forced to change their names to something slavic sounding.

  • Mike

    Flimsy evidence of Greek ancestry. I read the interview from LAmag.com where he's talking about his favorite places to eat. He says about eating at a rest. called Tony's, "I’m Greek, so I love Greek food." Most Greek Orthodox (as I am) will call themselves and their Orthodox families Greek in a certain context. I could see this being one of those times. Really bad evidence to proclaim him "Greek American" simply based on this interview, though I would be happy if he were as well, we just need better evidence if it even exists!

    • Anastasios Papaposto

      Hi Mike,

      There are also other publications that mention his Greek Ancestry.

  • Mike Woodyshek

    Lysacek is of Italian[10] and Czech descent; his great-grandfather František Lysáček, emigrated from Czechoslovakia to Chicago in 1925.[11] He is a Greek Orthodox Christian, however.

  • Elise Senkerik

    In fact the Lysacek name is a Czech name that is still in existence strongly in the Czech republic. My grandfather was Frank Senkerik Sr. and he was related directly to Evan's great-grandmother (also a Senkerik). A good number of Lysaceks and Senkerik's are still living in Canada, and in the Czech republic.

    I would like to say, I am very happy to hear that Evan is so skilled, and has won the Olympic Gold medal. Congratulations.

  • Ivana

    That is right: Lysacek is a Czech name…and in translation means “little fox-boy” :)