He’s safe!
That’s how one could describe Jeremy Abbott’s skate in the short program at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships Friday night. Abbott was awarded 84.10 points for his performance, three more than Ross Miner. Sitting in third is Joshua Farris, who earned the silver medal at the 2012 World Junior Championships.
Abbott was one of just four skaters out of 20 that skated without a major error at the CenturyLink Center in Omaha Neb., which also hosted the 2012 USA Swimming Olympic Trials. As a result of the poor skating by the majority of the field, Abbott stayed conservative throughout and elected not to attempt a quadruple jump.
The 27-year-old Abbott, whose lower back woes almost forced him to pull out of the competition, is aiming for his fourth title in five years. We’ll see if he’s able to do so during Sunday’s free skate.
“I’ve been saying that I came into this championship really bearing the weight of being the current champion, so I really feel like I had a huge target on my back,” Abbott said.
Earlier Friday, ice dancers Meryl Davis and Charlie White – the 2010 Olympic silver medalists and winners of the last four U.S. titles – earned a career-best 79.02 points to take a significant lead over second-place pair Madison Chock and Evan Bates. The free dance is Saturday.
NBC will broadcast the pairs free skate, the free dance and the women’s free skate on Saturday, while the men’s free skate will air on Sunday. Click here for times.
