Jeremy Abbott: I Keep Getting Happier
(Quotes from U.S. Figure Skating Telecon, 12 Jan 2012)
Abbott has two new programs this year, a swing medley for the Short Program and "Exogenesis Symphony" by Muse for the Free Skate, and he is enthusiastic about both of them.
"I absolutely do feel like have two great programs this season," he said, "and as the season progresses I feel more and more confident in them and in my abilities, and you know, I really feel this season I’ve just been – I’ve been very methodical about my progress, and just each day and each week it’s just progressively and slowly getting better. Heading into this championships I feel great and I’m looking [forward] – you know, I’m looking past this to Four Continents and Worlds."
Looking to the rest of the season, which he hopes will include competing at Four Continents in Colorado Springs, and Worlds in Nice, he said, "I feel like it’s the – that San Jose is the start to the second half of my season. I don’t fell like it’s a new season. I’ve been, you know I, I haven’t produced amazing free programs yet, but I’m, I’m extremely ecstatic with the progress that I’ve made, and I see how things are unfolding. So like it hasn’t been perfect yet, but I see the progress is continuing to move forward, and see where I am headed and I’ll end up."
At the Grand Prix Final, where he placed second in the short but sixth in the long, Abbott described his long program as a work in progress. Looking back at that performance and describing his efforts over the last month he assessed his progress saying, "You know I was extremely ecstatic with how I performed at the final. I haven’t done a quad in competition since two thousand ten U.S. Championships. So for me that was a huge step, and since I’ve come back [from the Final] I’ve just been training. I’ve been, I've been putting in the mileage and I’ve been putting in the work, and I have new skates since then, and things are going well, and I’m, I’m pleased with the progress that I’ve made and that I’m continuing to make."
At the 2011 National Championships in Greensboro, NC, Abbott placed second in the Short Program, and sixth in the Free Skate, ending up fourth overall. During the awards ceremony and subsequent photo-op, never was there a more disappointed looking medallist.
Dealing with that he explained, "Last year I was extremely disappointed with how things went. You know, but, for me in hindsight, I think that I’m actually happier that I didn’t go to Worlds just the way everything shook out, with the huge disaster in Japan and then having to postpone Worlds until April, and you know seeing all my training mates having to go through that kind of hell I was kind of relieved that I didn’t have to do that to be honest, and I also feel that it gave me a head start for this season and, you know, I could start putting together programs while they were still training [for Worlds] and I was already like kind of coming up with the concepts for this season, and working on getting my boot situation solved, and just really making sure that everything was in place before my season started so that I could come in this year feeling, feeling comfortable."
Asked to explain a comment he made early in the season about the judges either loving or hating his new long program, he laughed.
"You know I," he said, "I picked kind of an unconventional piece of music, and we, we choreographed it in a very different manner from what anybody is doing in skating right now and, you know, I just, I had a feeling that either it was going to be received extremely well or extremely horribly just because it was such a departure from basically what I think’s been going on in the sport recently. So, you know, everyone has opinions, and you know, everyone can say what they want, but at the end of the day what, what it came down to was that I loved what I was doing, and I loved the choreography that we did and the music that we picked, and for me that was – that was most important, and you know it just kind of worked out. It's been received extremely well and I’ve had nothing but positive feedback on it, and that, that just makes it all the better."
Elaborating on how it was different, he added, "You know, I think of course like the spins and the footwork are all kind of choreographed to get the points, but the rest of the program was just, it was just like a labor of love. We, we really choreographed it to the music and to how we felt, and just made a – just wanted to make like a strong artistic statement kind of [thing] – like kind of forgetting about the points and the system and this and that. Like, of course there are the elements that, that we focused on to get the levels and the points that are needed, but the rest of it is just about freedom of expression and the joy of skating."
Part of Abbott's difficulties last season stemmed from a series of boot problems that plagued him all of that season, an issue the casual observer of figure skating, and even some fans, have difficulty relating to. After all, they are just skates, right?
"That’s hilarious," he laughed, "I don’t know, that would be like me saying well let me cut off your feet and you try and walk. Like, you know, skates are skating. Like you can’t skate without figure skates and so if there is a huge problem with your equipment then it’s going to make it near impossible to skate, let alone train and try and compete at top form. They just, you know, I was just having trouble with the fit and the mounting and just kind of the overall, like make of the boot. But, you know, we’ve got things resolved and we talked with the manufacturers and we’ve gotten things settled and just really made sure things were strong and settled for this season. So for me at the moment that is all in the past."
In describing how he deals with boot issues, and durability he added that when needed, "I get a whole new [pair of] boot[s]. I mean last year I went, I literally went through eight or nine pairs last season just because I was having so many issues with them, and so far this season I’ve had two pairs of boots which is right on track. I usually get a pair every six months – and [I’m] doing good."
With this season's championships beginning in ten days, he described his attitude going into the championships saying, "Yeah, I mean each competition I’m really, I’m being aggressive and I’m trying to produce the best result for what I can at that moment. I’m not trying to peak at every competition, I’m not trying to put out my best performance at every competition, but as I said, like this season for me has been kind of a slow and steady increase and I hope to continue that at Nationals. But each time I go to compete, you know, like, I don’t, I’m not thinking about it like ‘oh, I’m going to back down a little bit from this because I want to do better at the end of the season. I give it 100 percent of what I have for that moment But I’m not like, I’m not trying to over, over reach or have like too big, like you know, expect a World Championship performance at every single competition."
As he works towards achieving his ultimate free skate performance, he was asked what was needed for him to be satisfied with the free skate. "To be honest, I’m satisfied every day I skate it [the free skate]," he said. "I love this program so much. You know, it’s, it’s such a part of me and I’ve had such a big, like, piece of this program, and so like every day in training I enjoy it and I love it, and I’m just so proud of this whole program You know for me I just want to go out and do it justice. I want to skate it the best I can with all the jumps and the spins and the choreography and just like really show it the way it needs – it should be shown."
Abbott is coached by Yuka Sato and Jason Dungjen, and was the first skater in their stable, which has grown with the addition of many elite skaters.
"I love the training environment here," he said. " At first, when I first came you know I really needed a 100 percent of their attention, and you know I had them on every session every day and we really were able to do a lot of work, and, and get a great result from that. Now I am extremely comfortable with their technique. I know them. I know their teaching style so I don’t have to worry about that. So I don’t need as much attention. You know, kind of more what I need is that energy and having these, these kids come has been a great help actually. Last year was, you know, I was struggling tremendously with all the boot problems but, like, it just kind of felt low energy all year long. I mean, Alissa [Czisny] and I would push each other but literally there were times when it was just us on the ice all the time, and it’s, it’s hard to kind of get motivated in such a low energy atmosphere. So to have Adam [Rippon] here and to have Alissa and Valentina Marchei and Harukimi (sp?) and Alexi Gilles and all these other very talented skaters has really brought up the energy and it’s, it’s made it a really fantastic training environment and I’m really happy to be part of it."
The recent addition of Adam Rippon to the Sato-Dungjen training group was a bit surprising, considering having two top skaters in the same event as training mates sometimes causes tension in a rink.
Speaking of Rippon, Abbott said, "Yeah, you know he’s really – he’s adapting well and he has been training great and he’s just, he’s a good person and he’s someone that I enjoy skating with, and you know when they asked me if, if it was OK with me if he came here – when Yuka and Jason asked me if it was OK, at first I was a little hesitant cause I, you know, I knew that Adam was probably my closest competition in the U.S., and to have that every day – I mean I had that in Colorado Springs and it was not the reason I left but it was certainly one of the reasons that I left. You know, just to kind of have my own place to kind of do my own thing without having to compete every single day. But I feel like, you know, we get along extremely well and we push each other on the ice, and I enjoy watching him skate, and I enjoy being on the ice with him and, and working in such a close environment I think it’s, it’s motivating for me and it’s, it’s just nice to have that camaraderie."
Since it was announced that Evgeni Plushenko would be competing at the European Championships, and most likely Worlds, many of the elite Men's skaters have been asked their thoughts about going up against Plushenko at Worlds when he will likely be one of the oldest competitors, now in the second comeback of his career. Plushenko turned 29 last November.
"I mean if he can still do it why not. But I, I don’t know, I don’t know what to say on this subject," he laughed. "You know I’m really – to be honest I’m trying to just focus on myself and not worry too much about the things that are going on around, but of course you know going into the World Championships he will be someone that I’ll have to content with but I’ve competed against him before at the Olympics, and so now like having kind of been through that whole situation I, I don’t feel – you know, when I was coming up competing I always felt like people like this were just like such giants and, and they couldn’t be toppled. But having competed against him, and having had more experience now, he’s just another competitor for me and at the end of the day I just have to do my job and, you know, since we’re in a judged sport sometimes it’s in my favor and sometimes it’s not, so all I can do is just focus on myself and, and do the best job that I can do."
Getting back to his programs, Abbott was asked to discuss a comment he once made about being interested in working with Robin Cousins on choreography. "I would absolutely love the opportunity to have a chance to get to work with Robin," he said.
"You know I, I try to choose different pieces of music each season and I always try to kind of expand myself choreographically and artistically. So just because that’s what I’m doing this season doesn’t mean that that’s what I’m going to do next – or it certainly doesn’t mean what I’m going to do next season. I’ll try and pick something that’s very different from what I did this year and hopefully try and continue to push myself forward," explaining that even though this season his programs might not be in the style one might see from Cousins, he (Abbott) did not feel tied to a particular style and he could see himself working with other choreographers with different approaches to choreography.
In speaking of his programs for Nationals and his plans for including quads, Abbott explained, "Oh, yeah, I mean I did the quad in the free program at the Grand Prix Final. It’s in my program. I've been doing it all season I’ll do it at Nationals in the free program and we’ve started to work on it in the short program, so maybe at Four Continents I’ll do it in both programs, but for, the plan for the U.S. Championships is the free program. Just the free."
In elaborating on his equipment this season, compared to last, Abbott was asked if he was still with Reidell. "I’ve been back and forth between just a few different skates," he explained, "and I’m not, I’m not sure where I’m going to end up but right now I have a pair of skates that I’m happy with and – yeah, we’ll see what the future holds."
Pressed to say whose boots he was using he said, "I don’t know – I don’t think I can talk about it publicly at the moment, cause I haven’t really talked with either manufacturer about like what the – you know, like what the outcome of what I’m going to be doing is. So, I just have a good pair of boots, and I’m happy with them, and I think for now that’s enough and I‘m sure you know whatever I decide – if, if they decide to sponsor me or whatever then (pause) we’ll see."
In closing, Abbott addressed his own age, and it's impact on his competing for the next two years.. By 2014, Abbott will be four years older than Evan Lysacek was for the Olympics in Vancouver.
"You know," he said. "I’ve had a much different career path and a far different trajectory than most male skaters I think. You know, I – I started skating very early but I started progressing much later and I never did the Junior Grand Prix, I never competed internationally on the Junior circuit, so really for me like my career is only five years old. So I feel like I’ve gained a ton of experience at this point and I’m, I’m starting to like understand, understand myself and understand how to compete and understand how to really like deal with everything. So even though, yeah, technically like with my age I’ll be quote unquote old, I don’t feel old. I feel extremely young myself, but everyone keeps telling me that I’m old for some reason, so, apparently I’ll be old but I don’t feel that. I fell like I’m in good health and good shape and I feel like I’m at a great point in my career, and you know, I – I’m, I’m learning each year, and I’m progressing each year and I just – I keep getting happier."
Copyright 2012 by George S. Rossano