Jeremy Abbott (born June 5, 1985) is a retired American competitive figure skater. He is the 2008 Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final champion, a two-time Four Continents Championship bronze medalist (2007, 2011), and a four-time U.S. national champion (2009–2010, 2012, 2014). He represented the United States at the 2010 Winter Olympics, where he finished ninth, and the 2014 Winter Olympics, where he won a bronze medal in the team event. Since retiring, Abbott has worked as a choreographer and figure skating coach.
Jeremy Abbott was born on June 5, 1985, in Aspen, Colorado, to Allison and Danny Abbott. He has an older sister, Gwen Abbott, a former nationally ranked downhill ski racer and Winter X Games competitor in extreme skiing. He attended Cheyenne Mountain High School for five years, stretching his high school career out one year longer than the usual, so he could concentrate on both skating and getting good grades. He graduated in 2004. Following his win on the junior level at 2005 U.S. Championships, Abbott established a fund at the Aspen Skating Club to help up-and-coming boys to pay for training. He established another fund in 2006 to provide financial assistance to skaters in the Roaring Fork Valley community.
In January 2015, Abbott's father, Danny Abbott, died from complications due to Parkinson's disease. Abbott competed at the 2015 U.S. Championships shortly afterward. "It was such an unfortunate circumstance, but so many wonderful things came out of it," Abbott said. "I got to spend a lot of time with my family, and... the funeral in Aspen ended up being a celebration of his life instead of a mourning of his loss.
Although he had not hidden his sexuality from his friends and family, Abbott chose to come out as gay in June 2020. "I just never talked about it publicly. And I held a lot of shame, actually, about that for a long time," Abbott said. "I struggled with saying it for many reasons, because a lot of times... I always felt like I was doing it for the wrong reason. Honestly, with the political climate and everything... I was just like, 'You know what? One more voice can help, so here it is.'"
Abbott began skating at age two. He began competing at age four after being inspired by Robin Cousins. As a juvenile, he competed in ice dance with Amanda Cunningham from 1995 to 1996 and with Katie Hoffmaster from 1997 to 1998. He competed in pair skating with Brittany Vise from 1998 to 1999 and with Krystal Sorenson from 2001 to 2002.
In his early years, Abbott was coached by Peggy Behr in Aspen, Colorado. In 1999, Abbott moved from Aspen to Colorado Springs to train at the Colorado Springs World Arena with Tom Zakrajsek. He began representing the Broadmoor Skating Club.
Abbott began competing in singles at the novice level in the 2000–01 season, but failed to make it out of sectionals. The next year he made it to Nationals, where he placed 6th at the novice level.
For the 2002–03 and 2004–05 seasons, Abbott competed on the junior level nationally, although he did not reach the 2003 U.S. Championships at the junior level. He fractured his L5 vertebra in 2003, which kept him off the ice for fifteen weeks leading up to regionals, yet he was able to place seventh at the 2004 U.S. Championships.
He won the Junior national title at the 2005 U.S. Championships. A remark he made during this competition – "Stranger things could happen; pigs could fly!" – led him to adopt a pig with wings as his mascot. Abbott made it the slogan of his charitable fund, which he launched to help young male skaters struggling to pay coaching fees, ice time, and competition fees.
Abbott was given his first senior international assignment in the 2005–06 Olympic season, placing eighteenth at the 2005 Nebelhorn Trophy. Abbott then placed fifth at the Midwestern Sectionals and missed a chance to go to the 2006 U.S. Championships and compete for an Olympic berth. Abbott later blamed his performance on his poor training habits, and said that he had become lazy after winning the junior national title; failing to make it out of sectionals gave him the motivation he needed.
In the 2006–07 season, Abbott was given another international assignment, this time to the 2006 Finlandia Trophy, which he won. He won sectionals and advanced to the 2007 U.S. Championships, where he won the pewter medal. Abbott was named the first alternate to the World and Four Continents teams. When Johnny Weir withdrew from the 2007 Four Continents Championships, Abbott was given the opportunity to compete at the event, which was held at his home rink, World Arena, Colorado Springs. He beat out his training mate Ryan Bradley to win the bronze medal.
In the 2007–08 season, Abbott debuted on the Grand Prix circuit, placing eighth at the 2007 Skate Canada and fourth at the 2007 NHK Trophy. At the 2008 U.S. Championships, he again won the pewter medal. He placed fifth at the 2008 Four Continents Championships. He was sent to the 2008 World Championships after Evan Lysacek withdrew with injury, where he placed eleventh.
In the 2008–09 season, Abbott had a breakthrough season on the Grand Prix circuit. He won the 2008 Cup of China and placed fourth at the 2008 Cup of Russia to qualify for the 2008–09 Grand Prix Final. He won the Grand Prix Final, becoming the first American man to do so, and achieved the highest total free skate score for an American man at that time. At the 2009 U.S. Championships, Abbott won both the short program and the free skate to win the gold medal. At the 2009 World Championships, Abbot placed tenth in both the short program and free skate, and finished eleventh overall. In the off-season, he performed at the Festa On Ice show in South Korea, his first ice show in a foreign country.
In May 2009, Abbott switched coaches to Yuka Sato in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.
Abbott began the 2009–10 season with a fifth-place finish at the 2009 NHK Trophy. He then won the 2009 Skate Canada to qualify once again for the Grand Prix Final, where he placed fourth.
At the 2010 U.S. Championships, Abbott won both segments of the competition to win the title overall, finishing 25 points ahead of the second place Evan Lysacek. He was named to the Winter Olympic team. At the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, a disastrous performance left him in fifteenth place after the short program. Abbott earned a score of 149.56 in the free skate, placing ninth overall. At the 2010 World Championships, he skated a strong short program to place sixth in the segment; however, in the free skate, he twice fell and finished fifth overall. In the off-season, Abbott performed with the Stars on Ice tour.
Abbott decided to remain with Sato for the 2010–11 season. In a November 2011 interview, he said he was seeing a sports psychologist once a week. His training was hampered by the first serious boot problems of his career. Abbott explained, "I could not get the blades mounted quite right, and they were never quite comfortable". He went through eight pairs of boots. The problems were resolved toward the end of the season.
At the 2011 U.S. Championships, Abbott was second after the short program, but struggled through parts of his free skate to finish fourth overall. He won his third pewter medal with a total score of 224.16, missing the bronze medal by just 0.19 points. The selection committee left him off the 2011 World Championships team, disappointing Abbott who thought the rules stated that other results would be taken into consideration. He was named to the team to the 2011 Four Continents Championships instead, where he won the bronze medal.