COLORADO SPRINGS — Brandon Mroz admits he didn’t watch the men’s figure skating in the Olympics. He had better things to do than watch a competition in which he felt he belonged.
After all, the Colorado Springs skater (Broadmoor Skating Club) entered last year’s nationals as the defending runner-up. A sixth-place finish made Sochi in 2014 seem a lot farther away than 6,000 miles.
But his first step starts today in Greensboro, N.C., where he tries to keep Aspen-native Jeremy Abbott from a third consecutive national title.
Mroz isn’t the only Broadmoor local chasing Abbott. Ryan Bradley postponed retirement to compete in his 10th nationals and Joshua Farris is considered a darkhorse after taking second at junior nationals last year.
Mroz, 20, is off to a good start. In his first year on the Senior Grand Prix circuit, he took second in the Cup of China and third at the Trophée Eric Bompard in Paris.
Turns out, missing the Olympics had its positive side.
“It made me look at what can make Brandon Mroz better,” he said after a recent practice at World Arena. “I took time last year and really refined my technique.”
He went back to the basics of jumping, to the point where it became second nature.
“It was that way in the Grand Prix,” he said. “My jumps were just like I was checking them off, like in a video game.”
Bradley, 27, is not only on the back nine of his career, he may be putting out before heading to the 19th hole. He nearly retired — and that was before breaking his foot after Nationals.
However, a Twitter account had many of his 2,500 followers begging him to return. Bradley has never made the Olympics, but colorful, fun routines like the nearly flawless long program that almost sent him to Vancouver has always made him a crowd favorite.
“I feel rejuvenated,” Bradley said. “The last four years, I was constantly stressed. And this year I really skated because I enjoyed it in shows and performing and having fun. I know it’s a cliché, but I found my roots.”
Three spots are allotted for the U.S. at the world championships in Tokyo in March. With defending Olympic champion Evan Lysacek and two-time Olympian Johnny Weir taking time off, Mroz is the third-ranked American behind Adam Rippon, who took fifth last year, and Abbott.
John Henderson: 303-954-1299, jhenderson@denverpost.com or Twitter@johnhenrome
