A bout with equipment issues last season took the then-two-time defending U.S. champion Jeremy Abbott completely out of the top three and off the World team last year. But, though there were some bumps along the way, he made it clear during the Grand Prix series this season that he was on the road back to success. And from his music selection to his career trajectory, Abbott is heading into next week’s U.S. Nationals with a bit of an unconventional angle.
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An overwhelming favorite?
With Evan Lysacek not competing at Nationals as he had intended to at the beginning of the season and no real other standout this season thus far amongst the American men, many have looked to Abbott as a bit of an overwhelming favorite to take his third title. But of course, he was also favored to win last year. But with only four clean triples in his free skate and a few strong programs from Ryan Bradley, Richard Dornbush, and Ross Miner, Abbott found himself edged out of the top three.
Bradley has since retired, but Dornbush and Miner will be in the field. And one of Abbott’s main competitors is likely to be his own training mate, Adam Rippon. During a pre-Nationals teleconference, Abbott remarked on Rippon’s presence on the same ice that he trains on this season. “It’s motivating for me,” he said. “It’s just nice to have that camaraderie.”
Musically unconventional
But what will set him apart – greatly, in fact – from the other men at Nationals is his choreography. Abbott has always had a strong sense of musicality, but his programs this season have shown even more growth in his musical interpretation. And the fact that the international panel has really reacted positively to these programs is an indication that what he is doing is working well.
“I picked kind of an unconventional piece of music [for the free skate],” he said. “We choreographed it in a very different manner from what anybody is doing in skating right now.”
WATCH: Abbott Grand Prix Final free skate
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And that’s neither an exaggeration nor a pat on the back. It is that free skate is the standout amongst the two programs – a subtle yet sublime take on Muse’s Exogenesis: Symphony. The program is a piece of work that few can pull off well, and Abbott knew that he was taking a risk with his music selection. And it is one of the most complete programs – choreographically and technically – that has been skated in recent memory.
The problem so far, though, has been the fact that he has yet to even approach going clean in the free skate this season. And though he will be the favorite in San Jose, it will be necessary for him to skate that program better than he has all season in order to assure himself of a spot on the World team.
On the state of his quad
When Abbott hit his quad in the free skate at the Grand Prix Final, you could almost hear a collective sigh of relief from his fans. It had been almost two years since his last successful one in competition – in the free skate at Nationals in 2010, a program which I still contend would have beaten both Lysacek and Evgeni Plushenko had it been skated that way in Vancouver.
He made it clear that the quad will continue to stay in his repertoire. “It’s in my program,” he said during the teleconference, “The plan for the U.S. Championships is the free program.” Abbott added that he has been working on including it to the short, which may happen as early as the Four Continents Championships.
What is age anyway?
Now 26, Abbott is coming into Nationals as a veteran. But his road to the top has been different than most – though he won the U.S. junior title in 2005, he never competed internationally as a junior. After spending a few years in Colorado Springs with Tom Zakrasjek (and a bevy of the top male skaters in the country), he hopped on the Yuka Sato-Jason Dungjen bandwagon before there even was a bandwagon. Sato and Dungjen have become coaches-du-jour since.
But whether it is music or choreography or career path, Abbott has been quite the unconventional character in the world of figure skating. Many will point to him as the one to beat next week, and the one to beat will, just perhaps, find that everything will click just right at the competition where he outclassed the eventual Olympic champion two years ago.
“I’m learning each year, and I’m progressing each year.” We will see where this progress has taken him in San Jose.
The men’s short program at the 2012 U.S. Figure Skating Championships takes place in San Jose, California, on Friday, January 27.
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