The Vancouver ice is crowded with world champions and Olympic medallists for the men’s figure skating competition.

Russia’s Evgeni Plushenko is chasing his second straight gold medal, a feat not achieved since Dick Button in 1948 and ‘52.

Switzerland’s Stephane Lambiel owns two world titles and was runner-up to Plushenko four years ago at the Turin Games.

As the reigning world champion, Evan Lysacek of the United States gets all kinds of attention.

France’s Brian Joubert also has a world win in his resume.

And, of course, there’s Johnny Weir. He might not be a medal contender, but he has always travelled with a spotlight – even before the fur started flying from those outfits he wears.

Almost forgotten amid it all is the two-time reigning US champion, Jeremy Abbott.

“I like where I’m at,” Abbott said after practicing his short programme, which he had to perform last night when the men’s event began. “I like that I’m not the centre of attention for the US men. It really gives me room to breathe and not get ahead of myself.

“I think what I have accomplished the last couple of years puts me in the top group and in contention for a medal, certainly. But I don’t worry about that too much.”

And, it seems, hardly anyone is worrying about or even mentioning Abbott in various assessments of perhaps the strongest men’s field in Olympic history. Here’s a guy who handily beat Lysacek and Weir, along with his other countrymen, in two straight nationals. A guy who won the Grand Prix final in 2008, his breakthrough season, and won Skate Canada last fall.

Yet Abbott is an afterthought, quite possibly the most overlooked champion the United States has ever had.

Abbott’s rise has been filled with detours. After winning the US junior title in 2005, he failed to qualify for nationals the following year. He followed up his Grand Prix final title – the first by an American man – with his first US title, only to falter at worlds by finishing 11th for a second straight year.

Perhaps that’s why he remains somewhere in the shadows on the international stage, particularly at these games. The juicy story lines are built around Plushenko’s chase of Button’s feat and the Russian’s return from a three-year retirement. Or around Lambiel’s comeback. Or Weir’s costumes. Or Lysacek’s sore foot. Or Joubert’s grousing about other skaters ditching the quad.