Alexander Abt
 Abt in 2003. |
||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country represented |  Russia |
|||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | October 22, 1976 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 179 cm | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Former coach | Alexander Zhulin, Rafael Arutunian, Sergei Volkov |
|||||||||||||||||||||
| Former choreographer | Alexander Zhulin | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Skating club | Trade Union Moscow | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Retired | 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| ISU personal best scores | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Combined total | 189.46 2003 Cup of Russia |
|||||||||||||||||||||
| Short program | 73.05 2003 Cup of Russia |
|||||||||||||||||||||
| Free skate | 121.40 2003 NHK Trophy |
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
Medal record
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
Alexander "Sasha" Viktorovich Abt (Russian: Александр "Саша" Викторович Абт) (born October 22, 1976 in Moscow) is a Russian figure skater and coach. He competed as an elite senior skater for about ten years. He placed fifth at the 2002 Winter Olympics.
Contents |
[edit] Career
Abt's first experience with figure skating came at the age of six when his grandmother first took him to a figure skating rink. He first began training with Sergei Volkov; however, Volkov was suffering from cancer and sent Abt to be trained by Rafael Arutunian before he died. Soon after, Abt began to make a name for himself on the junior circuit, placing second at the 1991 Junior World Championships.
His early career was hindered by a series of injuries, including two knee surgeries, and the most serious injury which took place in 1996, while performing at a rink in Mexico, Abt crashed into the boards, causing his skate blade to cut into his leg's quadriceps muscle, forcing Abt into the hospital for several weeks and off the ice for six months as he faced an uncertain future.[1]
In 1998, Abt placed fourth in Olympic trials despite skating what many considered to be a stronger free skate than Alexei Yagudin, who made the Olympic team instead. Later that year, Abt won his first medal at the European Figure Skating Championships, coming in third behind fellow countrymen Yagudin and Evgeni Plushenko. Over the next few years Abt continued to hone his style, as he became well known throughout the skating world for his deep edges, knee bends, elegant stroking and musicality. However, Abt also continually had to compete with Yagudin and Plushenko, both of whom possessed an arsenal of very difficult jumps.
Abt won the silver medal at the 2002 European Championships, and came in fifth at the 2002 Winter Olympics. He intended to retire following that season, but instead elected to continue competing and began working with a new coach, Alexander Zhulin.[2] This change proved a success, and Abt won three Grand Prix medals, as well as his first (and only) Russian Championship in the 2002-3 season.[2]
However, Abt continued to suffer from repeated injuries and illnesses. He was forced to withdraw from the 2003 European Championships after injuring his landing ankle in practice a day before he was supposed to fly out,[2] and took several months to recover. The last time he skated competitively was at the 2004 Russian Championships, where he withdrew after placing fourth in the short program. Shortly after, Abt became a professional skater. He also took part in the Russian TV show Ice Age (2008), got one of the main roles in a Russian soap opera about figure skating My Hot Ice (2008–2009).
[edit] Personal life
Abt married former ice dancer Elena Pavlova in April 1999.[3] They have one son, Makar, born in March 2000.[3] The family now resides in New Jersey, in the United States, where Abt and Pavlova coach at a local rink. Abt skates professionally in Japan for Prince Ice World and in Russia on the Ice Symphony tour. He is the brother-in-law of Alexander Pavlov.[4]
[edit] Programs
| Season | Short program | Free skating | Exhibition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003-2004 | Yablochko (Russian Sailor Dance from the ballet "The Red Poppy") by Reinhold Glière |
Nyah (Flamenco) from Mission Impossible 2 soundtrack by Hans Zimmer |
|
| 2001-2002 | Artsakh by Ara Gevorgian |
Piano Concerto No.2 Op.18 III. Allegro Scherzando & Piano Concerto No.3 Op.30 III. Finale Alla Breve by Sergei Rachmaninoff |
Wonderful World |
[edit] Results
| Event | 1990-91 | 1992-93 | 1993-94 | 1994-95 | 1995-96 | 1996-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-99 | 1999-00 | 2000-01 | 2001-02 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winter Olympic Games | 5th | ||||||||||||
| World Championships | 6th | 8th | 4th | ||||||||||
| World Junior Championships | 2nd | 7th | 8th | ||||||||||
| European Championships | 3rd | 4th | 4th | 2nd | WD | ||||||||
| Russian Championships | 4th | 4th | 18th | 7th | 4th | 3rd | 3rd | 2nd | 1st | WD | |||
| Soviet Junior Championships | 1st | ||||||||||||
| Grand Prix Final | 5th | 4th | 4th | ||||||||||
| Skate America | 3rd | 3rd | 7th | 5th | 3rd | 2nd | |||||||
| Bofrost Cup on Ice | 3rd | 2nd | 4th | 4th | 2nd | ||||||||
| Cup of Russia | 3rd | 2nd | 3rd | 6th | |||||||||
| NHK Trophy | 8th | 5th | |||||||||||
| Nebelhorn Trophy | 3rd | 3rd |
[edit] References
- ^ Mittan, Barry (February 15, 2002). "Injuries Dog Abt's Career". Golden Skate. Archived from the original on January 17, 2012. http://www.goldenskate.com/2002/02/injuries-dog-abts-career/.
- ^ a b c Bangs, Kathleen (November 17, 2003). "Alexander Abt: Sasha Debuts New Season on Hometown Moscow Ice". GoldenSkate. http://www.goldenskate.com/articles/2003/111703.shtml.
- ^ a b "Alexander ABT". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on January 17, 2012. http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs00001916.htm.
- ^ "Danika BOURNE / Alexander PAVLOV". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on January 17, 2012. http://www.isufs.org/bios/isufs00006596.htm.
[edit] External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Alexander Abt |
[edit]
|
|||||
