SPOKANE, Wash. -- Less than 48 hours after punching his ticket for the Vancouver Olympics, U.S. figure skating gold medalist Jeremy Abbott was scheduled to be back on home ice today for a light practice session at the Detroit Skating Club.
"Just get the body moving," Yuka Sato, Abbott's coach, said Monday. "No hardcore training this week; with the exhibition coming up, we'll recover and recharge."
Abbott, who won his second straight national title Sunday, is scheduled to return to Spokane Arena this weekend for Sunday's exhibition and U.S. Olympic team dinner. Though some medalists are staying in Washington state through the week to avoid traveling -- the ice dance and ladies championship events start Thursday -- the game plan for the Abbott camp always had been that if he won a medal, he would return to train in Bloomfield Hills and then fly back.
It was part of a strategy that Sato, and her coaching husband, Jason Dungjen, developed with Abbott heading into the competition -- a plan that has worked so well so far, they don't want to deviate from it.
Abbott's flawless performance and his victory over Evan Lysacek and Johnny Weir -- who will be heading to their second Olympics -- was celebrated Sunday night with a group of Detroit Skating Club coaches, skaters and their families. They ate hamburgers at the Sawtooth Grill, near the hotel.
"Yesterday was definitely a time to celebrate," Sato said. "He needs to have a good time."
Asked how she's doing after Abbott's emotional victory -- a performance that brought her to tears when it was over -- Sato said: "We are very excited and kind of stunned still. And really, really tired."
She added: "I was very emotional, but it wasn't just about the performance. It was a huge accomplishment for him. It hasn't been an easy ride to get to this point. It was important for him to prove that he can do this. He's a wonderful athlete and artist. He can be truly confident in himself now; it was a breakthrough moment. These last seven months, I've witnessed it with my own eyes."
On to Junior worlds: Grant Hochstein of the St. Clair Shores Figure Skating Club, who placed seventh in Sunday's men's event in his first senior nationals, was officially named to the U.S. junior world team that will compete March 8-14 in The Hague, Netherlands.
Contact JO-ANN BARNAS: 313-222-2037 or jbarnas@freepress.com. Check out her Olympics blog at freep.com/section/blog34.