Jeremy Abbott

Jeremy Abbott (born June 5, 1985) is a former American figure skater. He is the 2008 Grand Prix Final champion, a two-time (2007, 2011) Four Continents bronze medalist, and a four-time (2009, 2010, 2012, 2014) U.S. champion. He represented the United States at the 2010 Winter Olympics, where he placed ninth, and the 2014 Winter Olympics, where he won a bronze medal in the team event.

Personal life

Jeremy Abbott was born in Aspen, Colorado to Allison and Danny Abbott. He has an older sister, Gwen Abbott, a former nationally ranked downhill ski racer and 3X Winter X Games competitor in skier cross. He attended Cheyenne Mountain High School for five years, stretching his high school career out one year longer than the usual, so he could concentrate on both skating and getting good grades. He graduated in 2004.

In January 2015, Abbott's father, Danny Abbott, died from complications of Parkinson's Disease.

In addition to his coaches, Jeremy Abbott cites his family — his mother Allison Scott, his stepfather Allen Scott, his late father Danny Abbott, and his sister Gwen Abbott — as the pillars of his success. Following his win on the junior level at 2005 U.S. Championships, Abbott established a fund in Aspen, Colorado, to help up-and-coming skaters to pay for training. In 2006, he established a second fund for skaters in the surrounding area.

Abbott came out as gay in June 2020.

Skating career

Early years

Abbott began skating at age two. He began competing at age four after being inspired by Robin Cousins. As a juvenile, he competed in ice dance with Amanda Cunningham from 1995–96 and with Katie Hoffmaster from 1997–98. He competed as a pair skater with Brittany Vise from 1998–99 and Krystal Sorenson from 2001–02.

In his early years, Abbott was coached by Peggy Behr in Aspen, Colorado. In 1999, Abbott moved from Aspen to Colorado Springs to train at the Colorado Springs World Arena with Tom Zakrajsek. He began representing the Broadmoor Skating Club.

Abbott began competing in singles at the novice level in the 2000–01 season, but failed to make it out of sectionals. The next year he made it to Nationals, where he placed 6th at the novice level.

For the 2002–03 and 2004–05 seasons, Abbott competed on the junior level nationally, although he did not reach the 2003 U.S. Championships at the junior level. He fractured his L5 vertebra in 2003, which kept him off the ice for fifteen weeks leading up to regionals, yet he was able to place seventh at the 2004 U.S. Championships.

He won the Junior national title at the 2005 U.S. Championships. A remark he made during this competition – "Stranger things could happen; pigs could fly!" – led him to adopt a pig with wings as his mascot. Abbott made it the slogan of his charitable fund, which he launched to help young male skaters struggling to pay coaching fees, ice time, and competition fees.

2005–08

Abbott was given his first senior international assignment in the 2005–06 Olympic season, placing eighteenth at the 2005 Nebelhorn Trophy. Abbott then placed fifth at the Midwestern Sectionals and missed a chance to go to the 2006 U.S. Championships and compete for an Olympic berth. Abbott later blamed his performance on his poor training habits, and said that he had become lazy after winning the junior national title; failing to make it out of sectionals gave him the motivation he needed.

In the 2006–07 season, Abbott was given another international assignment, this time to the 2006 Finlandia Trophy, which he won. He won sectionals and advanced to the 2007 U.S. Championships, where he won the pewter medal, the highest placement for a first-timer in the senior men's event in twenty years. Abbott was named the first alternate to the World and Four Continents teams. When Johnny Weir withdrew from the 2007 Four Continents Championships, Abbott was given the opportunity to compete at the event, which was held at his home rink, World Arena, Colorado Springs. He beat out his training mate Ryan Bradley to win the bronze medal.

In the 2007–08 season, Abbott debuted on the Grand Prix circuit, placing eighth at the 2007 Skate Canada and fourth at the 2007 NHK Trophy. At the 2008 U.S. Championships, he again won the pewter medal. He placed fifth at the 2008 Four Continents Championships. He was sent to the 2008 World Championships after Evan Lysacek withdrew with injury, where he placed eleventh.

2008–09

In the 2008–09 season, Abbott had a breakthrough season on the Grand Prix circuit. He won the 2008 Cup of China and placed fourth at the 2008 Cup of Russia to qualify for the 2008–09 Grand Prix Final. He won the Grand Prix Final, becoming the first American man to do so, and achieved the highest total free skate score for an American man at that time. At the 2009 U.S. Championships, Abbott won both the short program and the free skate to win the gold medal. At the 2009 World Championships, Abbot placed tenth in both the short program and free skate, and finished eleventh overall. In the off-season, he performed at the Festa On Ice show in South Korea, his first ice show in a foreign country.

In May 2009, Abbott switched coaches to Yuka Sato in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

2009–10 season

Abbott began the 2009–10 season with a fifth-place finish at the 2009 NHK Trophy. He then won the 2009 Skate Canada to qualify once again for the Grand Prix Final, where he placed fourth.

At the 2010 U.S. Championships, Abbott won both segments of the competition to win the title overall, finishing 25 points ahead of the second place Evan Lysacek. He was named to the Winter Olympic team. At the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada, Abbott placed fifteenth place in the short program. Abbott earned a score of 149.56 in the free skate, placing ninth overall. At the 2010 World Championships, he skated a strong short program to place sixth in the segment; however, in the free skate, he twice fell and finished fifth overall. In the off-season, Abbott performed with the Stars on Ice tour.

2010–11 season

Abbott decided to remain with Sato for the 2010–11 season. In a November 2011 interview, he said he was seeing a sports psychologist once a week. His training was hampered by the first serious boot problems of his career. Abbott explained, "I could not get the blades mounted quite right, and they were never quite comfortable". He went through eight pairs of boots. The problems were resolved toward the end of the season.

At the 2011 U.S. Championships, Abbott was second after the short program, but struggled through parts of his free skate to finish fourth overall. He won his third pewter medal with a total score of 224.16, missing the bronze medal by just 0.19 points. The selection committee left him off the 2011 World Championships team, disappointing Abbott who thought the rules stated that other results would be taken into consideration. He was named to the team to the 2011 Four Continents Championships instead, where he won the bronze medal.

2011–12 season

For the 2011–12 Grand Prix season, Abbott was assigned to compete at the 2011 Cup of China and 2011 Cup of Russia. He later said they were not the two he had asked for, but it had worked out well. He placed third in both programs at the Cup of China and came away with the gold medal. At the Cup of Russia, Abbott won the short program with a new personal best of 83.54 points. He placed fifth in the free skate and won the bronze medal overall. He qualified for his third Grand Prix Final.

At the 2012 U.S. Championships, Abbott placed first in both programs and won his third national title. He withdrew from the 2012 Four Continents Championships due to back spasms. He finished 8th at the 2012 World Championships.

2012–13 season

Abbott finished fifth at his first Grand Prix event of the season, the 2012 Skate America. Early in the season, he had a compressed disk in his lower back, which also caused nerve problems in his legs, but his condition began to improve by his next event in France. He won the silver medal at the 2012 Trophée Éric Bompard. At the 2013 U.S. Championships, he won the bronze medal.

2013–14 season

During an interview for "The Skating Lesson Podcast", Abbott told Jennifer Kirk that the 2013–14 season would be his last. He finished sixth at his first Grand Prix assignment, the 2013 Skate Canada International, and won the bronze medal at the second, the 2013 NHK Trophy. At the 2014 U.S. Championships, he placed first in the short program and second in the free skate. Abbott finished first overall and was named to the U.S. team to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. He was awarded a team bronze medal. He went on to compete at the 2014 World Championships, where he had a fourth place free skate and placed fifth overall.

2014–15 season

Abbott was given assignments for the 2014 Skate America and 2014 NHK Trophy for the 2014–15 season. He placed fifth at both events.

Shortly before the 2015 U.S. Championships, Abbott's father died. Despite this hardship, Abbott decided to compete anyway and finished fifth. During the gala, Abbott paid a tribute to his late father.

2015–16 season and after

At the beginning of the 2015–16 season, Abbott stated that he would sit out the season, but said he did not plan on retiring. In October 2015, he participated in the 2015 Japan Open, a team event in Japan. In January 2016, he won gold at the 2016 Medal Winners Open, an ISU-sanctioned pro-am competition held in Japan.

During the 2016–2017 season, Abbott participated in the 2016 Japan Open. At the end of the season, he announced his retirement from competitive skating.

Coaching and choreographer career

Since retiring from competition, Abbott has started choreographing and coaching. He has choreographed programs for former two-time U.S. champion Gracie Gold. As a coach, he has worked with two-time U.S. champion Alysa Liu, as well as Dinh Tran.

Programs

2015–16 to present

2004–05 to 2014–15

Competitive highlights

Detailed results

Senior level

Junior level

References

External links

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Jeremy Abbott
at SkatingScores.com
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Abbott, Jeremy
American male single skaters
1985 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Aspen, Colorado
Figure skaters at the 2010 Winter Olympics
Figure skaters at the 2014 Winter Olympics
Four Continents Figure Skating Championships medalists
Medalists at the 2014 Winter Olympics
Olympic medalists in figure skating
Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in figure skating
American gay sportsmen
LGBTQ figure skaters
LGBTQ people from Colorado
21st-century American sportsmen