Jeremy Abbott put an exclamation point on his third U.S. title with a free skate for the ages.
HE’S BACK! ABBOTT DELIVERS ELECTRIC
PROGRAMS TO RECLAIM U.S. TITLE by TROY SCHWINDT
last year’s disappointing finish at the 2011 U.S. Championships in Greensboro, N.C., behind him, his boot and blade issues now his- tory. Te two-time U.S. titlist spoke about moving forward with two programs that he loved, and the process of building toward San Jose and a return to the World Championships. Rested and fresh in his heart, and more importantly, in his mind,
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he believed he could reclaim his coveted place atop U.S. men’s figure skating. In San Jose, Abbott executed his season’s plan to near perfection,
setting records for his short program, free skate and overall score on the way to his third U.S. title and a berth at the World Champion- ships in Nice, France. Rink-mate Adam Rippon also performed bril- liantly, securing the silver medal. Ross Miner backed up last year’s bronze-medal finish with another bronze-caliber effort. Both of Abbott’s programs left fans at HP Pavilion and on TV
awestruck. His huge jumps, intricate footwork and signature artis- tic ability garnered the Detroit-based skater the admiration of fans and insiders alike and put him in elite company as a three-time U.S. champion. “Te first time (U.S. title in 2009), I was just really excited to
win,” Abbott told reporters. “Te second time (2010), I wasn’t ex- pecting to skate the way that I did. I was actually very surprised. Tis time, I was very confident that I was going to skate the way I did. It’s the way I’ve been training and I do feel much more comfortable in my own skin. I was pretty confident that I was going to do what I did today and on Friday.” Abbott, 26, put out a swing dance short program that grabbed
the judges’ and audience’s attention from the opening note. Te Col- orado native nailed his first two elements — a triple flip-triple toe combination and triple Axel — for a total of 22.27 points. He spent much of the rest of the program demonstrating his superior skating skills and vast artistic talent. When it was over, Abbott had hit a home run, scoring a record
90.23 points. Tree-time U.S. titlist Johnny Weir, providing his expertise on
icenetwork.com, called Abbott’s performance “refreshing to see,” add- ing there’s no one else in the field who can put on a show like Abbott. Carrying a 7.29-point advantage into the free skate over training
partner Rippon, Abbott shut the door on the rest of the field with his sensitive, exquisitely paced performance to “Exogenesis Symphony Part 3” by Muse. He opened with a monster quad and triple Axel-double toe com-
bination worth a combined 24.1 points. Not having the quad in the program, he said, was never a consideration, although he enjoyed a large lead heading into the free skate. “It’s in my program and there was no changing it regardless of what everyone else did,” Abbott said. “It was the plan from the beginning and we weren’t going to switch it.”
2012 U.S. men’s champion Jeremy Abbott 16 MARCH 2012
Abbott continued to mount momentum throughout his free skate, which included a triple Lutz-double toe-double loop combi- nation. He did experience one hiccup, doubling an intended triple Salchow toward the end of the program. Posting of his final score of
here was a quiet confidence that Jeremy Abbott carried into the 2011–12 skating campaign. At Champs Camp in August, he talked about putting
PHOTO BY EZRA SHAW/GETTY IMAGES
PHOTO BY JAY ADEFF
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