Despite increasingly limited television coverage and a sparse crowd for most events, there was still drama at this week’s Figure Skating nationals. With her world-class spins, Ohio-native Alyssa Czisny took the gold in the ladies' singles Saturday night.
In Sunday’s men's competition, Jeremy Abbott of Colorado unseated two-time gold winner Evan Lysacek with a perfect short program and a nervous, but solid long program.
ANNOUNCER: It will be Jeremy Abbott. U.S. Champion! He had enough. He pulled it out.
Former champion and crowd favorite Johnny Weir came in a disappointing fifth.
For the second year in a row, Keanna McLaughlin and Rockne Brubaker took gold in the pairs, despite a fall in the long program. The crowd booed when upstarts Caydee Denney and Jeremy Barrett put in two flawless programs, yet came in second.
Except the pairs winners, there was a changing of the guard this year, as fresh faces won every other competition.