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Feb 25
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Buffalo Grove girl skates alongside Olympic champ Evan Lysacek ? PhotoGallery ? Chicago Sun-Times
Feb 24
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Buffalo Grove girl skates alongside Olympic champ Evan Lysacek ? Chicago Sun-Times
Updated: February 23, 2012 4:28PM
Everything else in the room disappeared, and Rudi Baruch?s dream came true.
Baruch, 14, got the ice-skating lesson of a lifetime Thursday when she spent an hour training with and learning from her favorite sport?s reigning Olympic champion. The dream-come-true was funded by her father, David, and dreamed up by her mother, Wynne, a year and a half ago, when they happenstanced their way into a charity fundraiser.
?For me, it was the only item in the room,? Wynne Baruch said Thursday. ?I saw the ice skate, I saw the opportunity, and I flipped.?
The opportunity was a lesson with Evan Lysacek, arguably the greatest ice skater the Chicago area has yet produced. The gold medalist of the 2010 Winter Olympics, Lysacek is also the 2009 world champion, 2007 and 2008 national champion, a 2006 Olympian and ? an honor befitting an athlete willing to donate his time for charity ? the U.S. Olympic Committee?s SportsMan of the Year in 2010.
The charity was the Court Appointed Special Advocates of Lake County, a non-profit organization of volunteers who assist abused and neglected children as their cases wind through the court system. David Baruch?s company had reserved a table at the group?s CASAblanca fundraiser on Nov. 7, 2010, and when the couple perused the items in the live and silent auctions, the lesson with Lysacek nearly jumped up and grabbed Wynne Baruch.
?My daughter is a passionate skater,? she said.
The idea turned into a bidding war, though. David Baruch gave his wife a price ceiling, and her final offer was at his maximum. But it exceeded the next closest bid and became the then-12-year-old Rudi Baruch?s bat mitzvah present.
Rudi was 14 Thursday when she finally laced up with and glided alongside Lysacek. Bonnie Wolinski, CASA Lake County?s development director, noted that the former Naperville resident now lives in Los Angeles and keeps the busy schedule of an Olympic champion.
?It took a while to coordinate everything,? Wolinski said after the skate had finally come to fruition.
Lysacek?s father?s birthday brought him back into town.
?It was fantastic, and so worth the wait,? Wynne Baruch said of her daughter?s opportunity. ?It was an unbelievable experience.?
Buffalo Grove teen hits the ice with Olympic gold medalist Evan Lysacek ? Buffalo Grove news, photos and events ? TribLocal.com
Olympic gold medalist Evan Lysacek made a stop at Twin Rinks Ice Pavilion Thursday to teach a Buffalo Grove figure skater a few things.
Rudi Baruch, 14, spent Thursday morning doing Salchows and loop jumps with Naperville-native Lysacek, who took home the gold medal at the Olympic Games in Vancouver in 2010.
Rudi Baruch finishes her lesson with Evan Lysacek with a smile. (Michelle Stoffel/Tribune)
Baruch?s parents won the private lesson at a CASA Lake County fundraiser gala auction in 2010, but were finally able to make the lesson happen this week when Lysacek came to town visiting family ? and to celebrate his dad?s birthday.Baruch was pretty excited when her parents presented the lesson as a birthday gift.
?I was screaming at home,? she said.
Baruch has been figure skating for almost four-and-a-half years and about a year ago took on coach Denise Myers, who has known Lysacek since he was a boy.
?Her drive really kicked in when she started working with Denise,? said Wynne Baruch, Rudi?s mom. ?She puts herself to bed at 8:30 so she can get up at 5 in the morning. She just takes it so seriously.?
She would like to compete in national competitions, but Wynne Baruch said her daughter?s main focus is nailing the next jump.
After the lesson, Rudi Baruch was ready to take all Lysacek?s tips and techniques out for another spin.
Lysacek said he had a good time with Baruch, and was encourage at how quickly she picked up some difficult moves.
?People take for granted the strength it takes to make these jumps,? he said after the hour-long lesson.
Though Lysacek has not competed recently, he is in training for future competitions, including the 2014 Olympics, his mother, Tanya Lysacek said.
David Baruch said the lesson was an amazing experience and that he will always remember the way his daughter?s face lit up when Lysacek moved her head to adjust her alignment.
?Her face beamed,? he said. ?She was just beaming.?
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- Dec. 8, 2011 Evan Lysacek Tries Fencing For The First Time ? DailyHouse Exclusive! Olympic Fencer Tim Morehouse
- SI.com Evan Lysacek captured an Olympic?gold medal in figure skating ? Sportsman of the?Year -
- April 9, 2012 Reigning Olympic champion Evan Lysacek coming to Stockholm Ice?2012
- TV Guide Channel SWTS Nov.3 2010 Evan Lysacek Report
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- Nothing would make me more proud than to step on the Olympic ice one more time with the flag on my chest and USA on my?back
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