SPOKANE, Wash. — Jeremy Abbott pumped a fist that could’ve cracked the ice in the Spokane Arena. That fist shattered the memory of his bombing at last year’s world championships. Then came another clenched fist. That was for all those who doubted his move from Colorado Springs to a new coach and base in Michigan right before an Olympic year.
Finally came the relieved smile and hug to his coach, Yuka Sato, as the crowd gave him a standing ovation. It all added up to a spectacular score of 87.85 for a big lead after all but four skaters during Friday night’s short program at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships. Evan Lysacek, the world’s No. 1-ranked skater, scored 83.69 for second place.
Abbott isn’t the only Colorado skater with a good shot at the Olympics. The Colorado Springs-based pairs team of Caitlin Yankowskas and John Coughlin came from nowhere to place second after the short program.
The U.S. will take three men skaters from this competition to the Vancouver Olympics. Abbott, 24, doesn’t have a spot locked up. He still has Sunday’s long program. But his 87.55 topped his 86.40, which was a nationals record, on his way to winning last year’s U.S. title in Cleveland.
“I was so nervous going out there, more so than I’ve been any time this whole year,” the Aspen native said. “I really had to summon every ounce of power. I had to keep my head together to produce the performance that I did.”
Skating to the Beatles’ “A Day in the Life,” his program was clean in its jumps and nearly flawless in its components. He landed his opening triple flip-triple toe, then the more difficult triple axel and finally the triple lutz.
“After the triple lutz,” he said, “it was just like an explosion inside, and I could have fun the rest of the program.”
Abbott has lost the battle of nerves in past years. His banner 2009 came when he got a stranglehold on them. Friday, he lost his grip but didn’t fall.
The nerves are for good reason. This may be the deepest U.S. men’s field since the 1990s.
“It’s not a cakewalk,” Abbott said. “No one has a spot guaranteed. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done in previous competitions. You have to deliver when it counts. It’s such a deep field. You can’t falter the slightest bit.”
Johnny Weir didn’t, either. The three-time U.S. champion and 2006 Olympian, who nearly quit last year after a string of bad performances, also skated clean for a 83.51 for third place.
Elsewhere locally, Ryan Bradley of Colorado Springs landed the difficult quad to open his program but turned two triple jumps into doubles and scored only 70.63.
Brandon Mroz, Bradley’s teammate, placed his hand on the ice during a quad and turned a triple axel into a single for a 64.45.
Yankowskas and Coughlin, who placed no higher than sixth in the last two nationals, were the big surprise of the day.
“We’ve stressed so hard in staying in the moment this year and not thinking too far ahead,” Coughlin said.
The U.S. will take only two pairs teams to Vancouver.
John Henderson: 303-954-1299 or jhenderson@denverpost.com
