Alexander "Sasha" Viktorovich Abt (; born October 22, 1976) is a Russian

figure skater Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, with its introduction occurring at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic d ...

and coach. He is a two-time European medalist and placed fifth at the

2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 (; Gosiute dialect, Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; ; Shoshoni language, Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), were an international wi ...

Career

Abt's first experience with figure skating came at the age of six when his grandmother took him to a rink. Sergei Volkov coached him early on but he began suffering from cancer and sent Abt to be trained by Rafael Arutyunyan before he died. Soon after, Abt began to make a name for himself on the junior circuit and won the silver medal at the 1991 World Junior Championships. Abt underwent surgery for a knee problem early in his career. Later, in the summer of 1996, he sustained a serious injury during an exhibition performance in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

– He crashed into the boards and cut into his right leg's quadriceps muscle with his left blade, keeping him in hospital for several weeks and off ice for six months. He was a late replacement at the 1997 European Championships, where he won the bronze medal. Alexander placed fourth at the 1998 Russian Championships and was not named to the Olympic team. Later that year, he placed third at the

European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

, behind fellow countrymen Alexei Yagudin and

Evgeni Plushenko Evgeni Viktorovich Plushenko (, born 3 November 1982) is a Russian former figure skater. He is a four-time Olympic medalist (2006 gold, 2014 team gold, 2002 & 2010 silver), a three-time World champion (2001, 2003, 2004), a seven-time Europe ...

and claimed the bronze medal. Abt underwent knee surgery in December 1998. Abt had a sinus infection at the 2001 European Championships and underwent surgery in spring 2001 to remove a cyst from his sinuses. In June 2001, he moved to

Lake Arrowhead, California Lake Arrowhead is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place (CDP) in the San Bernardino Mountains of San Bernardino County, California, surrounded by the San Bernardino National Forest, and surrounding the eponymous Lake Arrowhe ...

, for training. Abt won the silver medal at the 2002 European Championships, and came in fifth at the

. Abt intended to retire following that season, but instead elected to continue competing. Having worked with Arutyunyan for eleven years, Abt decided to move to a new coach,

Alexander Zhulin Alexander (Sasha) Viacheslavovich Zhulin (; born 20 July 1963) is a Russian ice dancing coach and former competitor. With Maya Usova, he is a two-time Olympic medalist ( 1994 silver, 1992 bronze), the 1993 World champion, and the 1993 Europ ...

, in May 2002. Abt won three Grand Prix medals, as well as his first (and only) Russian Championship in the 2002-03 season. He was forced to withdraw from the 2003 European Championships after injuring his landing ankle in practice a day before he was supposed to fly out, and took several months to recover. His last competition was the 2004 Russian Championships. He withdrew after placing fourth in the short program. Abt retired from competition and participated in the Russian TV show ''Ice Age'' (2008). He played one of the main roles in a Russian soap opera about figure skating, ''My Hot Ice'' (2008–2009). Abt has skated in Japan for Prince Ice World and in Russia on the Ice Symphony tour. He coaches in New Jersey.

Personal life

In April 1999, Abt married former

ice dancer Ice dance (sometimes referred to as ice dancing) is a discipline of figure skating that historically draws from ballroom dancing. It joined the World Figure Skating Championships in 1952, and became a Winter Olympic Games medal sport in 1976. A ...

Elena Pavlova, who competed with her brother Alexander Pavlov. They have one son, Makar, born in March 2000. The family now resides in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, in the United States.

Programs

Results

References

External links

*
Official homepage of Alexander Abt

Navigation

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abt, Alexander Living people 1976 births Russian male single skaters Figure skaters at the 2002 Winter Olympics Olympic figure skaters for Russia Figure skaters from Moscow European Figure Skating Championships medalists World Junior Figure Skating Championships medalists Winter World University Games medalists in figure skating FISU World University Games bronze medalists for Russia Competitors at the 1997 Winter Universiade