James Abbott

**James William Abbott** (born 2 January 1989 in Darlington, England) is a British figure skater who competes in men's singles. He is the 2018 Olympic silver medalist, 2019 World champion, two-time European champion (2018, 2019) and has medalled at various other events.

## Personal life

James Abbott was born in the market town of Darlington, England in County Durham on 2 January 1989. He has one elder brother and two elder sisters. The family moved from Darlington to Ashford, Kent, when James was a child. Prior to moving in with his skating coach Michael Sutton and his wife Patricia in Otham, outside Maidstone, he lived on the Stanhope Estate in Ashford.

Abbott attended the London School of Economics and Political Science, receiving a degree in Financial Mathematics and Economics in 2011. He also holds a Master of Science in Mathematical Finance from Imperial College London. He is registered in the UK as a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA). Prior to resuming his skating career, he worked as a quantitative analyst for Barclays at their Canary Wharf headquarters, then at Goldman Sachs at their London headquarters on Fleet Street. When he quit his job at Goldman to return to figure skating, he had begun a doctorate program in Financial Mathematics at Birkbeck University of London.

Abbott has a daughter Chloe (born 9 September 2016) from a previous relationship.

## Skating career

#### Early years

James Abbott began skating at the age of 9 at Gillingham, brought to the rink by his elder sister Amanda. Two years later he began tutelage under Michael Sutton, former British men's champion and Olympian, who saw potential in him.

#### 2003-04 season: junior international debut

Abbott was age-eligible to compete internationally from the 2001-2002 season, but NISA refused to send him until he had won the British junior men's title in 2003 at the age of 14. He competed for the first time on the Junior Grand Prix series, with middling success. He won the junior national title that January, and finished sixth at the Junior World Championships.

#### 2004-05 season: Silver at Junior Worlds

Once again, Abbott competed on the Junior Grand Prix circuit, finishing third at both JGP Courchevel and JGP Belgrade Sparrow, and fifth at the Junior Grand Prix Final that year, held in Helsinki. At the 2005 British Championships he finished second in the senior level, earning him a trip to the Junior World Championships, where he finished second at the age of 16. At those Junior Worlds Abbott landed the first triple Axel of his career in competition.

#### 2005-06 season: Senior international debut

Due to his silver medal at the Junior World Championships, upon moving up to the senior level with a reliable triple Axel and working on two quadruple jumps, Abbott was assigned to the senior Grand Prix, attending 2005 Skate Canada in St John's, Newfoundland. He finished fifth of eleven competitors. After winning his first senior national title, Abbott competed in his first European championships, finishing eighth, and at his first senior World championships, finishing eleventh.

#### 2006-07 season: Olympics and retirement for university

After medaling at his two Grand Prix events in the autumn of 2006 (bronze at Skate America and silver at NHK Trophy), Abbott finished just off the podium in fourth place at the 2006 Grand Prix Final in St Petersburg, Russia. He won yet another national title the following January at 18. At the 2006 European Championships, he finished just off the podium as he had at the Grand Prix Final. Shortly thereafter, Abbott was the sole men's figure skating entry for Great Britain at the 2006 Olympics in Torino, Italy. He finished ninth after placing eleventh in the short program and eighth in the long program, with the goal of a top ten finish. At that year's World Championships in Calgary, Canada, Abbott finished seventh.

That spring Abbott announced through NISA he would be retiring from competitive figure skating to attend the London School of Economics and Political Science, with no intent to return to competition once his education was complete.

#### 2016-17 season: Return to competition

Ten years after his last competition, Abbott began skating again. "It was cathartic to get back into the sport when my life otherwise was hectic," he explained before the 2018 Olympics, not intending to compete; but a conversation with old coach Michael Sutton convinced him to enter the 2017 British national championships. He won easily.