World Figure Skating Championships Begin in Nice, France
The best figure skaters from around the world will be in Nice, France this week for an opportunity to compete for the top spot at the World Figure Skating Championship.
The biggest name in American figure skating right now is a 26-year-old from Colorado named Jeremy Abbott.
Abbott relocated to the Detroit Skating Club in Bloomfield Hills three years ago so that he could focus on his skating. He is vying for his first world medal when he competes in France this week.
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"I'm always trying to show different aspects of my personality and different sides of myself to grow and expand," said Abbott. "Each season, you only get to see one or two sides of me. But if you kind of go back and look at my career, you can kind of get more of a picture of my story," Abbott told the Detroit Free Press.
He has gained the respect and admiration from fellow figure skaters for his passion and grace while he is on the ice.
World ice dance champion Meryl Davis explained that Jeremy is one of the "most amazing performers I've been able to appreciate."
"He has an ability to express dance he feels every movement. It's his whole body," she continued. "When I watch him, I get sucked into his performance."
Yuka Sato coaches Abbott and is truly amazed every time that he takes the ice.
"He's a true artist. He feels things and he enjoys the process of the project of creating whatever he's trying to perform."
But perhaps the biggest fan of Abbott is his mother, who has been supporting him since he was a child dancing in their house.
"He tries to reach out and find his soul in his choreography. What I see in his programs is how he takes everything that he's learned and internalizes it and makes it his own style … he's showing clean pure skating," said the mother.
When asked how he visualizes his routine and performs with such persona and fluidity he replied: "There are things that sometimes you can't explain," according to the Detroit Free Press.
