Jeremy Abbott felt on top of the world – well, at least on top of the nation – when he won the U.S. Junior Figure Skating Championships in January in Portland, Ore. Now the Aspen skater knows it’s time to grow up.
He’s stepping up in class.
Not only is he entering an Olympic year, he’s entering it as a senior skater. The first step to Turin, Italy, and the Winter Olympics begins Thursday in Centennial, where the South Suburban Ice Arena hosts the Midwestern Sectional through Saturday.
Abbott, 20, already has had an eye-opening experience with the big boys. In his first competition as a senior he went to Oberstdorf, Germany, at the end of September and finished 18th out of 22 in the Nebelhorn Trophy.
“It was a great experience,” Abbott said Tuesday. “I learned a ton. I came back with a lot of knowledge. I came back and started working really, really hard.”
The jump from juniors to seniors is similar to going from Triple-A baseball to the major leagues, except baseball has no judging bias to worry about. The sectional will attract 130 skaters competing in novice, junior and senior competition. The top four seniors advance to the U.S. Nationals in St. Louis on Jan. 7-15 where the top three move on to the Olympics on Feb. 10-26.
Abbott mopped up last season in juniors, winning the Southwestern Regional and Midwestern Sectional on his way to the national title. Former Olympic gold medalist Christopher Dean is his choreographer. Abbott can tell this is a different world.
“The competition’s harder,” he said. “Everyone’s pretty much on the same level and the consistency is better. There’s more depth. It’s a lot harder to get through.”
Also competing will be defending sectional champion Katy Taylor from Houston, plus Ryan Jahnke and Parker Pennington, who train out of Colorado Springs.
Tickets are $20 at the door Thursday and $25-$30 Friday and Saturday. For more information, call 303-703-3724 or 303-798-7881 or www.coloradosc.org.
John Henderson can be reached at 303-820-1299 or jhenderson@denverpost.com.
