Jeremy Abbott will take a second straight season off from top-level competition, but he would still love to skate in a third Olympics in 2018.
But he’s not yet committing to a run for Pyeongchang, either.
“I committed myself to training for next season,” Abbott, a four-time national champion whose last major event was the January 2015 U.S. Championships, said in a recent phone interview. “I haven’t committed to anything past that.”
When Abbott’s name was not on the fall Grand Prix Series assignments list, it was logical to surmise he would not be competing on the top international level at all this season.
He will still take part in the Japan Open, a free skate-only event Oct. 1 that includes the world’s top skaters and those retired from Olympic-level competition. He will also do shows, such as his own Aspen event in December. Same as last year.
Abbott is still training at the Detroit Skating Club with longtime coaches Yuka Sato and Jason Dungjen. At 31 years old, time is not on his side.
“I know the state of the sport, it keeps growing and these boys keep improving,” said Abbott, a 2014 Olympic team event bronze medalist whose best individual finish in seven Olympics/worlds trips was fifth. “I have a lot to offer figure skating. On the other side of it, if this is going to be something realistic, I need to be doing multiple [quadruple jumps]. I’m working on my strength and my consistency more than anything.”
Abbott also said in spring 2015 reports that he would not return to competition if he couldn’t land two different quadruple jumps.
If Abbott does decide next year to return to top-level competition for an Olympic run, he would be trying to become the oldest U.S. Olympic singles skater since 1932, according to sports-reference.com.
“When that season rolls around, at 32 [years old], being the best skater and the best technician and in the best shape I’ve been in my entire career, that’s my goal,” Abbott said. “Thirty-two is old in figure skating, but I don’t think it’s old in a lot of sports. I’m ‘old,’ but I’m not over the hill.”
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