Tom Abbey, a 26-year-old personal trainer at Falls Church’s Vantage Fitness, qualified for the U.S. Olympic Development Skeleton Athlete Program last week by being one of only two athletes out of 19 who were selected after a week of tryouts at Lake Placid. Abbey’s scores in general athletic drills were “off the charts,” according to Garrett Rambler, owner of Vantage. He scored 397 out of a possible 400 points in four categories and in two cases, his performance exceeded the top number on the ranking chart. In the vertical jump, the highest chart number was 36 inches and he jumped 39.
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