The story appears on

Page A15

January 31, 2012

GET this page in PDF

Free for subscribers

View shopping cart

Related News

Home » Sports » Skating

Abbott dazzles in victory

NEEDING only to stay on his feet to win his third title at the US Figure Skating Championships in San Jose, California, on Sunday, Jeremy Abbott performed with a quiet elegance and superior skill that was simply bewitching. The audience was so spellbound you could hear his blades carving the ice, and it wasn't until the final notes of his music faded that fans erupted in applause.

Abbott finished with a personal-best 273.58 points, a score that puts him within striking distance of world champion Patrick Chan. It is 12 points better than 2006 Olympic champion Evgeni Plushenko scored in winning his seventh European title on Saturday.

Adam Rippon, a two-time junior world champion, was second. Ross Miner finished third for a second straight year. Earlier on Sunday, Caydee Denney and John Coughlin won their first pairs title together after winning the previous two years with other partners.

Armin Mahbanoozadeh, a distant third after the short program, needed a strong effort to have any chance of moving up and making the world team. He didn't get it and went the opposite direction, instead, dropping off the podium after taking a big splat on his quadruple toe attempt and turning out on the landings of two other jumps.

Miner took advantage, moving up a spot with a strong program that had only one error, a fall on a triple axel.





 

Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.

沪公网安备 31010602000204号

Email this to your friend