Getting himself in gear

Jeremy Abbott had no idea how many miles were on the 1988 Saab he had been driving for years.

“The odometer is stuck,” Abbott said after recently allowing himself the luxury of his first new car, a Honda Civic Si coupe.

Abbott felt comfortable enough to upgrade his wheels now that his figure skating career no longer is stuck on the road of inconsistency that had made it a long trip from talented kid to decorated senior competitor.

He moved forward after seeking advice from Paul Wylie, another enormously gifted skater who had trouble putting it all together until what would be the final competition of his Olympic-style career.

“I’m excited to be able to put all the painful past to use and redeem part of that checkered career of mine,” Wylie deadpanned.

It took Wylie 11 years after winning the world junior title to finish higher than ninth at a global championship, and he could not have picked a better moment: the 1992 Albertville Olympics, when he became silver medalist with a performance that many felt deserved gold.

Abbott’s coach, Tom Zakrajsek, heard Wylie tell stories of his perseverance at a U.S. Figure Skating Assn. “champs camp” last summer. Zakrajsek immediately thought Wylie’s experiences would translate well to Abbott, and the USFSA’s mentoring program was a perfect vehicle to get them together.

“A lot of people feel I had the potential to do some great things in skating,” Abbott said. “I would get close, but never quite there.

“Paul had pretty much the same career. He went through a lot, and I am learning from his outlook on it and how he worked through it.”

As a teenager, Abbott won national titles at the novice and junior levels. Now, at 23, the Coloradan has emerged as a contender for the senior title at the U.S. championships, Wednesday through Sunday in Cleveland.

He had easily the best record of any U.S. man on the Grand Prix circuit this season, ending it with a victory at December’s Grand Prix Final.

Yes, the favored Brian Joubert of France withdrew halfway through that competition because of an injury. But Abbott already had beaten Joubert in the short program and went on to win the title impressively, with the highest free skate and total scores ever by a U.S. man.

Said Tracy Wilson in her commentary on the Grand Prix final for Canadian television: “This guy is a contender for the world title.”

“I had never done two clean programs in the same competition before the final,” Abbott said. “It has given me a lot of confidence, allowed me to dream bigger and set higher goals.”

The next would be a national title, even if Abbott was only fourth last year and suddenly must face the pressure of having a chance to beat Evan Lysacek, winner of the last two, and Johnny Weir, winner of the three before that.

“It has been a weight on me [mentally], but I’m trying not to put too much emphasis on the idea I can win,” Abbott said.

That Abbott would express such feelings is evidence he has grasped Wylie’s advice about taking charge of his own career.

“Jeremy is a very shy person, not the type who will usually speak up,” Wylie said. “I had dinner with him and his mother and Tom last summer, and every one of Jeremy’s sentences was completed for him.

“Now I can see he is finding his own voice, to do things his own way, whether he made mistakes or skated brilliantly.”

Abbott admits that he always had done what he was told rather than give input about his skating. That carried over to his performances, when Abbott often seemed too introverted to grab an audience.

“I still do what I’m told, but I’m not being a sheep,” he said with a wry laugh.

“This is a very welcome change from my perspective,” Zakrajsek said. “An athlete-driven program is much more powerful.”

This season, Abbott wanted to have programs that were more “inviting to audiences, so they can enjoy my skating with me.” He still avoids the temptation of going for easy crowd appeal in favor of an intricate choreography in which the jumps emerge quietly from a seamless flow.

“Jeremy is still a fine wine, but you can keep that quality without always having to be only for those trained to appreciate fine wines,” Wylie said.

And, like both Wylie and such wines, Abbott has needed time to be at his best.

--

phersh@tribune.com

--

U.S. figure skating championships

Where: Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland.

When: Wednesday through Sunday. Information: www.usfsa.org.