Abbott was at Yerba Buena Ice Skating and Bowling Center to skate when he ran into Liu and coach Massimo Scali.
Scali asked Abbott if he'd be willing to give Liu one stroking lesson, and he agreed.
"Then I decided I was having fun in San Francisco, so I stayed a couple more days," Abbott said. "And then they asked if I'd be willing to teach her for like 30 minutes three days a week, kind of as supplemental stuff. And I was like, 'Yeah, that sounds great.' So I started doing that, and then as that started progressing, it just became a full-time thing."
"It was very much an accident," he added with a laugh. "I just decide to go into the rink that day, bumped into them, and the rest is history, as they say."
In just four months, Abbott has managed to have quite an impact in a crucial time for Liu. After growing three inches and injuring her hip in October, she was no longer looking like the skater that won a World Junior bronze medal with a triple Axel and quad Lutz in her arsenal.
"(The injury) kind of gave us a chance to pause and stop and restructure what she was doing and how she was doing it," Abbott said. "And honestly, since October to now, she's an entirely different skater. She's a different person on the ice in that the way she thinks about skating is different, and the way she skates is different. I'm speechless every time I think about it, and I'm so excited. If she could do that in two and a half months, I can't wait to see what she can do in the next year."
Liu won a pewter medal in Las Vegas, proving that she's far from done -- and making her coach incredibly happy.
"That week, for us, wasn't about winning, but it was about showing the work that she did, and showing what her potential is, and what her future can look like," Abbott said. "And she did that. She pulled it all out, and she really made people take notice. She made people understand that she's not to be counted out. And I was so, so proud of her."
Abbott acted on another whim in June of 2020, deciding to publicly come out as gay. 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 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."
For now, Abbott isn't sure what the future holds. He hopes to continue performing, loves being a choreographer and has immensely enjoyed his first foray into coaching. But for the time being, he simply plans to follow wherever the happy accidents lead him next.
"I've been lucky to stay a part of the sport which gave me so much joy," Abbott said. "It's given me purpose, and it's given me a career, and it's given me a livelihood, and it's given me life. I started this sport when I was 2, and I don't know in what capacity I'll be a part of it, but I know that skating will be a part of my life forever, because it's that meaningful to me. At the moment, the only plan I have is just year by year with these kids, and doing the best I can with them. And beyond that, I'm just excited to see what the next step is."