Rachael Flatt and Jeremy Abbott have barely had time to exhale from a whirlwind season that included national championships and Winter Olympics bids. Today, it’s time to inhale again as the Colorado figure skaters kick off the 2010-11 season with the NHK Trophy in Nagoya, Japan.
For the 18-year-old Flatt, the Cheyenne Mountain High graduate who has put off college for a year, the brief offseason was spent training, skating in “Stars on Ice,” vacationing in Italy and more training.
That training was as much off ice as on.
Criticized for a lack of artistic grace during her launch into the international spotlight, Flatt is working on a back problem that has restricted her flexibility. Her training routine includes Pilates, modern dance classes and ballet.
“I’m doing a lot of things to help my body recover more, rather than pushing it beyond exhaustion,” said Flatt, who placed seventh at the Olympics in Vancouver. “I do try to protect my back. I don’t want to injure it more than I already have. At the same time, the artistic aspect of my skating needs a lot of work. I’m improving on that.”
She also has worked extensively with trainers and physical therapists at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.
“I want to make sure I have enough strength in my core and back to keep my back safe and increase flexibility,” said Flatt, who plans to attend Stanford next fall. “I don’t want to push that. I don’t want to injure myself to the extent that I can’t skate anymore.”
Abbott, 25, is still mulling whether he’ll keep skating until the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia. In the meantime, the Aspen native is using two new programs this season in an attempt to win a third straight U.S. title, something that hasn’t been accomplished since Johnny Weir did it from 2004-06.
“They’re very different from last season,” Abbott said of his new programs. “They’re a lot more extroverted. My short program is tango and flamenco, very strong and very powerful. It’s free and very character-driven and very much about expression and emotion.”
Abbott’s goal is to improve his stock internationally. Despite his two national titles, he finished only ninth in the Olympics. However, his fifth at the world championships that followed was a big jump from 11th the previous year.
“I’d like to finally get on the world podium,” he said. “That’s been my goal the last couple of seasons.”
