Originally published Sunday, January 29, 2012 at 6:43 PM
Jeremy Abbott wins his 3rd U.S. title | Figure skating
Jeremy Abbott won his third national title at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in San Jose, Calif.
JEFF CHIU / AP
Jeremy Abbott laughs while holding up his first-place medal after winning the U.S. figure-skating title Sunday.
Figure skating
Abbott earns his 3rd U.S. title
Rust will no longer be Johnny Weir and Olympic champion Evan Lysacek's only worry if they come back.
Jeremy Abbott proved he is capable of contending with the best in the world — past and present — in winning his third title at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships on Sunday in San Jose, Calif.
The 26-year-old from Royal Oak, Mich., put on a sublime display of quiet elegance and superior skill that was bewitching.
"I skate to give a performance like that and so I felt really good," Abbott said. "I was really nervous when I started. I was shaking a little bit."
His final score of 273.58 was a record for the U.S. championships, and puts him within striking distance of world champion Patrick Chan of Canada. It was about 12 points better than 2006 Olympic champion Evgeni Plushenko of Russia scored in winning his seventh European title Saturday.
The only damper in Abbott's day was news his stepfather, Allen Scott, had blacked out during his performance. Scott, 64, was taken to a hospital, and Abbott said he was able to talk with him.
"He's OK and my whole family is with him," Abbott said.
Adam Rippon of Clarks Summit, Pa., placed second with 240.87 points. Ross Miner of Watertown, Mass., finished third for a second consecutive year.
Meanwhile, Caydee Denney of Wesley Chapel, Fla., and John Coughlin of Kansas City, Mo., won the pairs title.
Skiing
Vonn settles for 2nd place
Lindsey Vonn of Vail, Colo., was denied a three-victory sweep of World Cup events in St. Moritz, Switzerland, by 0.03 seconds as Maria Hoefl-Riesch of Germany won a super-combined event.
Hoefl-Riesch, who took the World Cup overall title from Vonn last season, won for the first time in 11 months. Hoefl-Riesch's combined time for slalom and super-giant slalom runs was 2 minutes, 8.41 seconds.
Vonn earned 80 points to extend her lead in the overall standings to 387 points over Slovenia's Tina Maze, who was fifth in the super combined.
Winter X Games
McNeal is disqualified
Langely McNeal, a graduate of Whitman College in Walla Walla, was disqualified from the Skier X event in Aspen, Colo., because, officials said, she was wearing a hair tie around the cuff of her ski pants.
McNeal, 28, also was wearing a band on her thigh as a tribute to the late freeskier Sarah Burke of Canada. Officials issued a statement saying McNeal "was not disqualified for wearing a Sarah Burke band," according to an ESPN.com report.
Winter X Games rules say it is illegal to use methods or devices that "tighten the suit material closer to the body," according to ESPN.
Motor sports
Shank team wins Rolex 24
The little team knocked off the big boys with all those championships in the Rolex 24 at Daytona in Daytona Beach, Fla.
Michael Shank Racing accomplished the feat with NASCAR driver A.J. Allmendinger and IndyCar Series driver Justin Wilson. Allmendinger closed out the twice-around-the-clock victory by piloting the No. 60 Ford Riley for the final stint, a nearly three-hour drive that included some door-to-door banging with Allan McNish for the lead.
It was Allmendinger's first victory in a major series in almost six years, and comes about a month after he landed a coveted job with Roger Penske's NASCAR team. Allmendinger was suffering from severe leg cramps at the end of the race, and had to be helped from the car in victory lane.
Allmendinger and Wilson combined with Grand-Am regulars Ozz Negri Jr. and John Pew to give Shank its first victory in one of the most prestigious sports-car races in the world.
European soccer
Arsenal advances in FA Cup
Arsenal kept its bid to end a seven-year trophy drought on track, scoring three times in an eight-minute span in the second half to beat visiting Aston Villa 3-2 and reach the fifth round of England's FA Cup.
Elsewhere
• Algorithms ($7 to win) took the $400,000 Holy Bull for 3-year-old Thoroughbreds at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla.
Algorithms, a colt trained by Todd Pletcher and ridden by Javier Castellano, ran a mile on the sloppy track in 1 minute, 36.17 seconds to beat runner-up Hansen by 5 lengths in the Grade III race.
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