JEREMY ABBOTT is a former American figure skater. He is the 2008 Grand Prix Final champion, a two-time (2007, 2011) Four Continents bronze medalist, and a four-time (2009, 2010, 2012, 2014) U.S. National champion. He represented the United States at the 2010 Winter Olympics, where he placed ninth, and at the 2014 Winter Olympics, winning a bronze medal in the team event.
At the beginning of the 2015–2016 season, Abbott stated that he would sit out the season, but said he did not plan on retiring. In October 2015, he participated in the 2015 Japan Open, a team event in Japan. In January 2016, he won gold at the 2016 Medal Winners Open, an ISU-sanctioned pro-am competition held in Japan.
During the 2016–2017 season, Abbott participated in the 2016 Japan Open. At the end of the season, he announced his retirement from competition.
Acting on a whim he says, Abbott decided to come out publicly as gay in June of 2020. While he’d never hidden his sexuality from the people close to him, the time finally felt right to add his own voice to the LGBTQ figure skating community.
“I just never talked about it publicly. And I held a lot of shame, actually, about that for a long time,” Abbott said. “I struggled with saying it for many reasons, because a lot of times when I wanted to say it, I always felt like I was doing it for the wrong reason. Honestly, with the political climate and everything that was going on, I was just like, ‘You know what? One more voice can help. So here it is.'”
He says he hopes to use his story and platform to stand behind fellow out skaters like Adam Rippon, Timothy LeDuc, Brian Boitano and Johnny Weir, who are outspoken in their activism.
“I feel like my activism and my voice are stronger supporting others who have a bigger presence than myself,” Abbott said. “I wanted to boost up the people who do have that bigger voice, who can help more people and reach more people. So I hope that my having come out can actually help support and boost up all of those other people who are doing such amazing work.”