Lysacek untouchable

SPOKANE, Wash. -- Evan Lysacek turned in the skate of his life last night, landing a quadruple-triple combination at the start of a virtually flawless performance to dethrone three-time champion Johnny Weir at the US championships inside Spokane Arena.

"I came here prepared and with very little doubt," said the 21-year-old from Naperville, Ill., after he'd beaten a shaken Weir, who finished third, by more than 35 points to claim his first domestic crown. "It's hard to put into words how much I wanted to come and claim this title."

It was the first time since 1935, when Robin Lee knocked off seven-time titlist Roger Turner, that a three-time defending champion had been beaten. It was no contest.

"It was very difficult to go out after that," conceded Weir, who took the ice with the rafters still shaking from the ovation for Lysacek. "I fought for every inch of that program."

But from the beginning, when Weir aborted the last two jumps in his planned triple axel-triple toe-double toe combination, he was struggling. He two-footed his quadruple toe jump, doubled the back end of a triple lutz-triple toe, fell on a triple loop, and singled a triple axel combination.

That left Weir, who was bidding to become the first man to win four straight since Brian Boitano in 1988, third behind Ryan Bradley, who finally made the podium in his seventh try.

"A bronze medal at the US nationals still isn't so shabby," Weir said. "But comparing it to three first places in a row, it's disappointing."

Lysacek, who'd placed ahead of Weir at the Olympics and the last two world championships, had never beaten him at nationals, finishing second, third, and fifth at the last three events. But after winning the short program with a clean skate, Lysacek figured this might finally be his time.

Yet he knew he had to go out aggressively and stay that way throughout. "You don't dethrone a leader by skating hesitant," said Lysacek. "You go out and fight with passion and go like gangbusters."

That meant landing the quad, which Lysacek had never done cleanly in competition.

"[Coach] Frank [Carroll] said I better land the quad or he was going to strangle me," he said. "Tough love."

So he came out soaring, hitting the quad toe-triple toe, then nailing a triple axel, triple loop, and triple salchow in short order. Once Lysacek laid down a strong triple axel-triple toe combo, he knew he was having the skate of a lifetime. He just didn't want to acknowledge it.

"I just tried to shut my brain off," said Lysacek, who ended up with a quad and eight triples. "I started to think about winning and I said, no. It was a little bit surreal. An out-of-body thing. I was fading in and out. It was weird, but I enjoyed it."

When the music stopped, Lysacek dropped to all fours in the middle of the ice and cradled his head. Then he arose and pumped his fists at the ceiling as a shower of stuffed animals rained around him.

"I was very proud of him tonight," said Carroll. "If you want to win, you have to throw down the gauntlet and he did."

Lysacek's point total (248.88) was nearly 30 points higher than Bradley's and broke Weir's domestic record by more than 20. "I heard 90 for the first mark and I thought, 'What the hell did he do?' " said Weir. "But I knew he must have done the skate of his life with the quad."

Weir couldn't match that and he knew it. The pressure of defending yet again had been huge.

"I felt everything was pressing down on my shoulders," said Weir, who wept in the kiss-and-cry area while he was waiting for his score. "It was probably the most difficult performance of my career."

Lysacek, who knew the title was in his grasp, felt the squeeze, too. "I was so nervous tonight," he confessed. "I thought I was going to throw up before I went on. Then this strange calm came on and I went into the zone."

And never came out. Now, all he has to do it bring it with him to Tokyo in March, where a world championship will be the prize.

John Powers can be reached at jpowers@globe.com.