Alexander Abt

Biography

Alexander Abt, called Sasha by his friends and fans, is an extremely talented figure skater whose road to success had many twists and turns and has been scattered with injuries.

Alexander combines fast skating with high jumps, great musicality and a wish to make something extra out of the program. This makes his programs outstanding in presentation which combined with his fantastic looks, that catches the heart of the ladies in the audience, can make him a figure skating mega star if he can keep free from injuries.

Sasha started skating when he was five years old. He wanted to be a hockey player but was too thin and settled for figure skating. His great talent was discovered early and he started to train for former World Champion, Sergei Volkov. This companionship was sadly ended when Volkov, who suffered from terminal cancer, was too ill to keep on working. Since 1991 Alexander has been training with Armenian coach Rafael Arutunian.

Fifteen years old he took silver in the Junior World Championships 1991. After ending school at 17 years of age Alexander spent two years in the Russian army. After the military service, in 1995, he made his international breakthrough by catching many a spectator's eye at the NHK Trophy and Skate America with his graceful talent and striking musicality. He was named to the Russian Team for the Europeans but had to withdraw because of an injured hip.

The next season he underwent knee surgery and couldn't participate in Russian Nationals. During a tour in Mexico in the summer of 1996 he crashed into the boards and cut off his right thigh muscle with his own skate blade. He was hospitalized for several months but surprised his doctors with an extraordinary recovery and was back in the ice rink after only 6 months.

The season 1997/1998 Alexander made a great comeback. He placed well in the Grand Prix events and when Ilia Kulik had to withdraw from Europeans, Sasha was called back from his vacation by the Black Sea with only four days notice to join the Russian team at the championships in Milan, Italy. Despite being unprepared for the competition Sasha won not only the hearts of the audience but also the bronze medal.

Being a member of the greatest figure skating nation ever, this achievement was neither enough to take him to the Olympics in Nagano nor to the Worlds in Minneapolis. He has considered competing for some other nation but the process of changing nationality is long and his wish to stay competing for his native country as long as possible has kept him staying in Moscow.

After a silver medal in Nations Cup and a bronze medal in Cup of Russia, the rest of the season 1998/1999 was spoiled by yet another knee surgery.

In spring 1999 Alexander wed Yelena Pavlova, a former ice dancer.

Last season, 1999/2000, he finally got to compete not only in the Grand Prix series but also in both Europeans in Vienna and Worlds in Nice.

Sasha went to the Grand Prix Final in Lyon as a replacement for Alexei Yagudin, who withdrew just a couple of days before the event. Before this Sasha hadn't been able to practice his free program for a while due to problems getting ice time in his home rink. He finished fourth.

At the European Championships, Sasha was greeted by many happy fans that had longed to see him since the Europeans 1998. He placed second in his qualifying group - there were a few mistakes that held down the scores but the program was well received by the audience. Sasha got a bad start at the short program, making only a double toeloop after the triple Axel in the combination, and after that he never recovered and ended at a sixth place in the short and a total fifth. Despite a well performed free program, Sasha had to settle for a fourth place after Ukrainian skater Dmitri Dmitrenko. Placed among the first five, Sasha got the opportunity to show his artistic skills in the exhibition gala. The crowd loved his dramatic exhibition program skated to the music from the movie Zorro.

In the Worlds, Alexander skated perfectly well in both qualifications and short program. Both fans and TV-commentators had the feeling that Sasha suffered in the judging from having less reputation than the other top skaters, going into the free program in fifth place. But in the end it was weariness from a long season (and also maybe from coping with the pressure of a Worlds' debut) that kept Alexander from medalling. His strength ran out after the first minute of the free program and he ended on sixth place. A reputable scoring for a debutante!

Alexander Abt plans to stay in eligible skating at least until 2002. We, the fans, hope that he will keep free from injuries and that we will see him take Olympic gold in Salt Lake City before he eventually turns pro.