It's just about a year and a half since Jeremy Abbott made it official that he was done with competitive figure skating, but nearly four years since we last saw him compete, at the 2015 U.S. Championships.
Now 33, the four-time U.S. champion is still getting used to his new life, but recently, he has a new motto: Saying "yes" to as much as possible.
"I have been trying to say 'yes' to everything," Abbott told U.S. Figure Skating Fan Zone in New York at the beginning of December. "I've been doing a little bit of coaching, and my choreography has been picking up. I have really, really enjoyed doing choreography. I do seminars here and there. Right now, I'm doing a little of everything. I have been performing a ton, traveling a lot."
It's been a season of performances for the Detroit-based Abbott, who skated in Bryant Park's Winter Village show in Manhattan days after sharing the ice with reigning World champion Kaetlyn Osmond at Brookfield Place, a shopping center near Freedom Tower.
"Before that I was at the 'Scott Hamilton and Friends' show in Nashville, which was an awesome event with a whole cast of Olympic champions," he explained. "The crowd was great. The musicians were incredible, Florida Georgia Line, Brothers Osborne, Sheryl Crow… it was ridiculous! Anything Scott does is incredible."
Abbott's incredible show line-up doesn't end there, however: Throughout this month, he has also performed in Dallas and Vail, and will take part in the Stars on Ice show in Lake Placid over the new year holiday. In January, he has plans to do a show during the 2019 GEICO U.S. Figure Skating Championships in downtown Detroit and then will do his two shows at the end of January in Aspen, one that benefits Parkinson's charities and another partnering with Aspen Gay Ski and its benefactors.
"I always love performing — it's my first love. It's my favorite thing to do," Abbott explained.
But that hasn't stopped him from taking on a new love in choreography, which Abbott has engaged in more and more in the recent past. Known for his own beautiful, lyrical brand of skating, Abbott has choreographed for a slew of young skaters that competed at the regional and sectional championships this past fall while also starting to work with elite skaters.
Abbott did both the short and long program for
Gracie Gold, while also choreographing Japanese skater Yura Matsuda's free skate to "The Seasons."
"I like that I can give some of my knowledge to other skaters and help them on their path," he said. "Not necessarily mold them in my image but give them something to hold on to and to push themselves artistically and musically forward."
He continued: "I'm still learning as I'm going. My biggest thing with choreography is wanting to teach a good foundation of skating skills…I have struggled a bit with that, thinking, 'This feels comfortable, but why can't I get you to do this?' It makes me want to find them a way to help get the skater there. I want to give them as much foundation as possible, then step back and see what looks good. I want them to look their best while also pushing them forward. It's a balance."
Being away from the Grand Prix Series, the pressure of trying to qualify for the Olympics and the constant international stage are all aspects of competing Abbott misses greatly, but he's still content to walk away when he did, his body not being able to keep up the way he wanted it to – nor the fire in his belly.
Life post-competing is "still a journey and a process," he said. "There are days where I'm like, 'Gosh I wish that I was still in shape and was out there competing.' There is something about having that structure and goals and drive to reach something. As a professional, I kind of wait for the next call and the next show. I don't have an ultimate goal like the Olympics like I used to have."
Abbott's resume is still one of the best in the recent past, particularly domestically: He won the national title four times between 2009 and 2014, including both Olympic seasons. He won eight medals on the Grand Prix circuit, as well as the Grand Prix Final in 2008. He was ninth at the Olympics in 2010 and fifth at the World Championships in 2014 – his last trip to such a major event.
"I'm just trying to keep up with myself and maintain a level of shape where I can perform and be presentable," Abbott said with a laugh. "I miss having that drive and that daily ambition. I'm still trying to find that and what that means in terms of a professional career. I want to be working towards something more, something bigger."
Detroit is still home. That is, when Abbott is home. ("It's kind of a place-marker for my stuff because I'm never really there.") He sees his former coaches Yuka Sato and Jason Dungjen quite often, as well as fellow former U.S. champ Alissa Czisny, who, Abbott said, is coaching and performing herself.
While the skaters he works with at Detroit Skating Club aren't elite, Abbott says there is a group that they are trying to build around at the novice and junior levels.
And for the first time in his adult life, the U.S. Championships return to Detroit, which Abbott couldn't be more excited about. Along with his performance downtown, he said he'll have a variety of hats to wear for the weekend, though he can't confirm what – just yet.
"I'm really excited. I love Detroit," he said. "I'm excited for people to see it in a new light. It's been resurgent and there are some really great things going on in the area where Nationals is taking place. It's going to be more than the skating."
And that's what he's in the process of figuring out, too: What's more beyond competing. Saying "yes" has certainly been a good start.
