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. Early career In 1996, Lysacek won the U.S. national title at the Juvenile level – the lowest qualifying level in the U.S. Figure Skating competition structure. In 1997, he moved up to Intermediate and won the pewter medal (fourth place) at the Junior Olympics, after winning both his regional and his sectional qualifying competitions. After failing to qualify for Nationals on the novice level in 1998, Lysacek won the U.S. Novice title at the 1999 U.S. Championships at the age of thirteen. Junior career 1999–2000 season In the 1999–2000 season, Lysacek made his international junior debut and competed on the 1999–2000 ISU Junior Grand Prix circuit. He placed seventh at his first event and then won his second event. He was the third alternate to the 1999–2000 ISU Junior Grand Prix Final. At the 2000 U.S. Championships, Lysacek won the Junior title at the age of fourteen. He placed fifth in the short program and first in the free skate, placing first overall. He was the first male skater since Terry Kubicka to win back-to-back Novice and Junior Men's titles in the United States. The win on the junior level was unusual in that Lysacek moved from third to first overall while sitting backstage, because he won through a tiebreak in the 6.0 ordinal system. Lysacek was tied with Parker Pennington in second place ordinals and had one more first place ordinal, giving him the win in the free skate in the Total Ordinals of Majority tiebreaker, which pushed him ahead in overall factored placements, allowing him to win the title overall. Following the U.S. Championships, he was assigned to the 2000 Gardena Spring Trophy in Urtijëi where he won the silver medal on the junior level. 2000–2001 season Lysacek had a strong showing in the 2000–2001 season. He competed in his second season on the Junior Grand Prix circuit and won two silver medals. He was the 7th qualifier for the 2000–2001 Junior Grand Prix Final and placed 8th at the Final. He made his senior national debut at the 2001 U.S. Championships, placing 12th at the age of fifteen. Lysacek was named second alternate to the US team to the 2001 World