Abbott, Lysacek, Weir dominate men’s figure skating

Reporting from Spokane, Wash. — 

For all the talk about the depth of talent in U.S. men’s skating, numbers seemingly large enough to make the selection of three Olympic team members more than a perfunctory exercise, it looks like the process has become as simple as a third-grade math problem.

Take the man with the most U.S. titles. Then the one with the second most. Then the one with the third most.

Add them up, and you get the team going to Vancouver: Johnny Weir, Evan Lysacek and Jeremy Abbott, the only national champions in the field.

They finished in inverse order of titles – Abbott, Lysacek, Weir – during Friday’s short program at the U.S. Championships, but Weir was so far ahead of fourth finisher Adam Rippon that only a complete flop in Sunday’s free skate will keep him from a second consecutive Olympic team.

And the order of finish Sunday means little to Lysacek or Abbott.

“It comes with some serious bragging rights to be national champion but as far as international perspective, it probably doesn’t really matter,” Lysacek said.

His own example makes that case. Lysacek, U.S. champion in 2007 and 2008, finished third last year and went on to win the world title.

“It’s definitely not about winning,” Lysacek said. “I don’t really feel the need to prove myself over and over and over again.”

Abbott, the reigning U.S. champion, downplayed the importance of winning again.

“I’m not worried about defending the title,” Abbott said.

Abbott, whose 87.85 points were a national championship record for the short program, skated error-free. Weir (83.51) was dinged for a wrong-edge takeoff on one jump. Lysacek (83.69) stepped out of the landing of his triple axel jump.

Rippon finished with 72.91. Brandon Mroz, last year’s runner-up, did very little right and wound up 10th at 64.45.

The only noteworthy thing about the scores was how the U.S. judges resisted the excesses displayed by their colleagues at other national championships, including Russia and Canada.

The Canadians gave reigning world silver medalist Patrick Chan 90.14 for his short program Friday despite his having put a hand down on one jump and turning a triple-triple combination into a triple-double.

“This was actually a pretty bad score for me,” Lysacek said. “These were my lowest component (artistic) scores in almost two years. We asked the judges what happened.”

One judge told Lysacek everything was fine. Since the judges don’t speak to the media, it will be hard to get any reasons.

And, as Lysacek noted, these scores don’t show up on the international list, so the Olympic judges won’t be inclined to be impressed by them or use them as a point of reference.

For Weir, the point Friday was simply to leave a different impression than he did a year ago, when a dismal fifth-place performance kept him from the world championship team for the first time since 2003.

Weir was so focused on avoiding a mistake he seemed like he was moving in slow motion on the three jumping passes that opened his short program.

“The world was absolutely falling down on me last year,” said Weir, U.S. champion from 2004 through 2006. “I bring a lot of things on myself, and as I get older, I have completely realized that.

“In no way am I ashamed of it. I just have to work a little harder than someone who flies under radar. I am in a completely different place mentally, physically and all of those things are paying off. I am really feeling now that I can do this, I can go to the Olympics, I can challenge the top skaters in the world and bring home a medal.”

Abbott’s 2009 season went downhill after winning the U.S. title. He finished 11th at worlds for the second consecutive year, then changed coaches from Tom Zakrajsek to Yuka Sato.

It seemed a gamble, especially given Sato’s relative lack of experience as a coach. She was a 1994 world champion for Japan.

“There is always worry when you make changes, but I felt so strongly about my decision that regardless of the outcome, I wasn’t going to have any regrets,” Abbott said. “She has been in my shoes, had to deal with pressure, so she knows what it takes. I feel really confident she could take what she learned from her skating and translate that to my story.”

Abbott was a clear winner Friday. Based on the scores, he likely would have won even if Lysacek had landed the triple axel cleanly.

“I struggled with the width of the rink,” Lysacek said. “I was thinking, ‘Don’t hit the judges.’ I think one lady judge was getting a little scared, (like) ‘Don’t fall into me, please.’ ”

When he saw the scores, Lysacek felt like squashing a judge or two.

phersh@tribune.com