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Abbott claims first U.S. figure skating title

Practice partner Mroz finishes second, while two-time champ Lysacek third

Image: AbbottAP
Jeremy Abbott finished with 241.89 points, more than 13 points ahead of training mate Brandon Mroz on Sunday.

He’d been landing his quad consistently in practice and even did one in the warm-up. But he didn’t get nearly the height he needed on the takeoff, underrotated it and crashed to the ice. He was crooked in the air on his triple salchow, though he managed to save the landing. He was off-balance on his second triple axel, too, forcing him to take a hop before doing a triple toe that was supposed to be in combination.

He appeared shell-shocked when he finished, and covered his face in his hands when he sat down in Kiss and Cry.

“It was nowhere close to my best,” Lysacek said. “But it’s all learning, so I’ll take from it what I can.”

Mroz was ecstatic with his finish, as he should be. Though this is his first season at the senior level, he already looks like a steely veteran.

He had the cleanest program of the day, and the most difficult. His quadruple toe loop jump was huge, he could have thrown in another turn. He did eight more triple jumps — no small feat on a day when some guys struggled to do doubles. And while he’s still young — he just turned 18 in December — he’s got a knack for performing.

After finishing seventh in the short program, Weir needed a fantastic performance Sunday to have a shot at the world team. Instead, he popped his very first jump, a triple axel, doubled what should have been a triple loop and fell on a triple flip. His footwork was incredibly difficult, filled with intricate steps, turns and hops, but he appeared to just be going through the motions with it.

His entire performance, in fact, was dull — and that’s really saying something for the colorful and quirky Weir.

Weir blamed his performances on his shortened preparation after his bout with the flu, when he lost 8 pounds in a single day.

“It may sound like an excuse, but you have to remember that Michael Jordan had a whole team around him,” Weir said when reminded that Jordan led the Chicago Bulls to victory in Game 5 of the 1997 NBA finals when he was sick. “I’m a single, skinny, sparkly boy standing by myself.”

© 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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