Johnny Weir
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
||
| Johnny Weir at the 2004 World Championships in Dortmund. | ||
| Personal Info | ||
|---|---|---|
| Country: |  United States |
|
| Residence: | Newark, Delaware | |
| Height: | 5'9" (172 cm) | |
| Weight: | 139 lbs | |
| Coach: | Priscilla Hill Tatiana Tarasova Marina Anissina |
|
| Skating Club: | SC of New York | |
| ISU Personal Best Scores | ||
| Short + Free Total: | 220.25 | 2004 NHK |
| Short Program: | 80.00 | 2006 XX Olympics |
| Free Skate: | 146.20 | 2004 NHK |
| Most Recent Results: | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Event | Points | Finish | Year |
| Olympic Winter Games | 216.63 | 5th | 2006 |
| World Championships | 235.57 | 7th | 2006 |
| National Championships | 225.34 | 1st | 2006 |
| Cup of Russia | 206.79 | 3rd | 2005 |
John G. "Johnny" Weir (born July 2, 1984) is the three-time and reigning U.S. national champion in men's figure skating. He is currently ranked 7th in the world.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
Weir was born in Coatesville, Pennsylvania. Weir became interested in figure skating while watching Oksana Baiul win the Olympic gold medal in 1994. He taught himself how to jump on roller skates in his basement. After his parents bought him figure skates, he practiced on a frozen corn field. His parents then bought him lessons and, after showing promise, Weir focused completely on becoming a skater. Although he began skating at the relatively late age of 12, he progressed quickly through the ranks. He performed an Axel jump in his first week on skates, showing immense talent. He competed in pair skating with Jodi Rudden as a juvenile and intermediate, but gave it up to focus on single skating.
Weir's first major victory came in 2001 when, at the age of 16, he won the World Junior Championships. There he skated three clean programs and came in first ahead of fellow American Evan Lysacek. This was the first time since 1987 that the U.S. had placed first and second on the World Juniors podium. Weir also placed sixth that year at the senior U.S. Figure Skating Championships. After winning the World Juniors, he was invited to perform in a Champions on Ice show. He would later join the show as a full-time cast member.
At the 2003 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, he literally hit the wall during his long program. He restarted the program, but injured himself later on a failed triple axel landing. This time he was too injured to restart, so he withdrew from the competition. The competition as a whole came to be known in the skating press as "the Disaster in Dallas" due to the relatively low quality of skating in general.
The 2003-2004 season was the turning point for Weir. He qualified for the U.S. Figure Skating Championships by winning his regional and sectional championships. He received his first 6.0 during his long program at 2004 U.S. Championships, winning the gold over Michael Weiss and Matthew Savoie. He then competed at the 2004 Worlds and placed fifth.
In the 2004-2005 season, Weir won his first two Grand Prix titles. He won the first at the NHK Trophy in Japan and the second at Trophée Eric Bompard in France. He came in second at Cup of Russia behind reigning world champion Evgeni Plushenko. At the 2005 U.S. Championships, he successfully defended his title. At Worlds the following month, he placed fourth.
The 2005-2006 Olympic season would prove difficult for Weir. He had a disappointing start to the season after being told he had to rework the footwork in his long program because it was not considered hard enough. He came in seventh at Skate Canada after injuring his foot on a jump landing at the start of the free skate and struggling through the rest of the program, and third at Cup of Russia. He rallied at the 2006 Nationals, winning his third consecutive title and was automatically named to the U.S. Olympic team.
At the Olympics, Weir skated a brilliant short program and was in second place behind Evgeni Plushenko going into the long program. However, Weir skated below par in the long program and fell to fifth in the final standings. It should be noted that the mistake he made is not readily apparent to casual figure skating viewers. He left out a jumping pass, meaning that he did not complete as many jumps as he could have, and he did a solo triple flip jump instead of a jump combination. It was far from a tragic performance, but he did not perform his best. At the 2006 Worlds, Weir finished seventh, fighting a nagging back injury. Weir also landed his first clean quadruple jump at the competition.
Weir trains at the Pond Ice Arena in Newark, Delaware, under long-time coach Priscilla Hill. He has become known for his colorful and outspoken personality off the ice as much as for his artistry and skating skills. In academics, he studied linguistics at the University of Delaware before dropping out in his second year to concentrate on his skating. In the future, he plans to study fashion design at either the Fashion Institute of Technology or Parsons The New School for Design in New York City. He is a self-proclaimed "Russiaphile" who admires the style of skating and language of Russia. He also speaks French.
Weir is known for his outstanding style and smooth jump landings. Figure skating commentators have noted that his style is intriguing to watch on the ice regardless of the technical quality of his skating performance because of his fluid movements and soft landings. Unlike most figure skaters, he is a clockwise spinner.
Weir began the 2006-2007 season with a team win over Team Japan at the Campbell's Cup, where he debuted his new King of Chess short program. Weir chose to skip Skate America and has been assigned to Skate Canada International and Cup of Russia.
Off the ice, he has appeared in a fashion spread in BlackBook Magazine and taught Kathy Griffin how to skate in the season two finale of Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List. During Olympus Fashion Week, Weir modeled for the Heatherette show. He is an avid collector of Russian Cheburashka memorabilia.
[edit] Controversy
Weir has sparked much debate by being outspoken and speaking his mind. He has referred to old costumes of his as resembling a Care Bear on acid and an icicle on coke. He referred to competitor Ryan Bradley's short program at the 2006 U.S. Figure Skating Championships as a "vodka-shot, let's snort coke" kind of program, which Weir claims was a compliment. He apologized soon after for making a drug reference.
In the midst of Weir's 2006 Olympic experience, Rudy Galindo caused a stir by accusing Weir of copying his skating style, demanding that the media ask Weir about his sexual orientation, which they promptly did at the press conference following his long program. Weir declined to answer, stating that who he sleeps with has nothing to do with what he does on the ice.
Despite Weir being the three-time and reigning National Men's Champion, the United States Figure Skating Association left him off of the web site and the print brochures for the 2007 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Spokane, Washington, while prominently depicting every other major U.S. figure skater. When the story was reported by the media, skating fans protested his omission, and his photo was eventually added to the web site without comment from either Weir or USFSA.
[edit] Programs
2006 - 2007 Season
Short Program
King of Chess - Silent Nick
Free Skate
Child of Nazareth - Maxime Rodriguez
Exhibition
2005 - 2006 Season
Short Program
The Swan - Camille Saint-Saëns
Free Skate
Amazonic + Hana's Eyes + Wonderland - Maksim Mrvica
Otonal - Raul DiBlasio
Exhibition
Weir returned to Otonal following the U.S. Figure Skating Championships. He performed the program at the 2006 Winter Olympics and at the 2006 World Figure Skating Championships.
2004 - 2005 Season
Short Program
Rondo Capriccioso - Camille Saint-Saëns
Free Skate
Otonal - Raul DiBlasio
Exhibition
Unchained Melody - The Righteous Brothers
Yunona and Avos - Alexei Rybnikov
2003 - 2004 Season
Short Program
Valse Triste - Jean Sibelius
Free Skate
Exhibition
Imagine - John Lennon
2002 - 2003 Season
Short Program
"Innocence" and "Zydeko" - Benoit Jutras
Free Skate
Soundtrack from Dr. Zhivago - Maurice Jarre
2001 - 2002 Season
Short Program
Les Parapluies de Cherbourg - Itzhak Perlman
Free Skate
Themes from "The Puppet Master," "Spirit of the Peacock," and "City of Sadness" - Zhao Jiping and Nic Rain
2000 - 2001 Season
Short Program
Les Parapluies de Cherbourg - Itzhak Perlman
Free Skate
The Heart of Budapest - Montovani
Exhibition
What A Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong
This I Promise You - NSync
1999 - 2000 Season
Short Program
Espana Cani - Erich Kunzel
Free Skate
"An American Tail" Soundtrack
Exhibition
What A Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong
She's All I Ever Had - Ricky Martin
1998 - 1999 Season
Short Program
"Sabre Dance"
Free Skate
Malaguena
1997 - 1998 Season
Short Program
"Russian Folk Music" - Svetit Masjaz
Free Skate
Malaguena
1997 - 1998 Season
Juvenile Program
"Rudy" Soundtrack
[edit] Competitive highlights
| Event | 97-98 (novice) |
98-99 (junior) |
99-00 (junior) |
00-01 | 01-02 | 02-03 | 03-04 | 04-05 | 05-06 | 06-07 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winter Olympic Games | 5th | |||||||||
| World Championships | 5th | 4th | 7th | |||||||
| Four Continents Championships | 4th | |||||||||
| United States Championships | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 5th | WD | 1st | 1st | 1st | |
| Skate Canada International | 7th | 7th | 3rd | |||||||
| Trophée Eric Bompard | 4th | 1st | ||||||||
| Cup of Russia | WD | 2nd | 3rd | |||||||
| NHK Trophy | WD | 1st | ||||||||
| Finlandia Trophy | 2nd | |||||||||
| World Junior Championships | 1st | |||||||||
| Junior Grand Prix, China | 2nd | |||||||||
| Junior Grand Prix, France | 6th | |||||||||
| Junior Grand Prix, Norway | 2nd | |||||||||
| Junior Grand Prix, Czech Republic | 7th | |||||||||
| Junior Grand Prix, Slovak Republic | 1st | |||||||||
| Eastern Sectionals | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | |||||
| Mid-Atlantic Regionals | 1st | 1st | ||||||||
| South Atlantic Regionals | 1st | |||||||||
| North American Challenge Skate | 1st | |||||||||
| Triglav Trophy | 2nd |
[edit] See also
- Figure Skating
- U.S. Figure Skating Championships
- World Figure Skating Championships
- 2006 Winter Olympics
[edit] External links
- Johnny Weir Online - Official website
- Johnny Weir at the International Skating Union biography page
- Johnny Weir at the United States Figure Skating Association
- Johnny Weir: A Rising Star
- JohnnyWeirFans - Johnny Fan Club
- Michael Collins Enterprises
- Johnny Weir - Russia (Russian) - Russian website
- Official U.S. Olympic Team bio
[edit] Navigation
|
1976: Mark Cockerell | 1977: Daniel Beland | 1978: Dennis Coi | 1979: Vitali Egorov | 1980: Alexander Fadeev | 1981: Paul Wylie | 1982: Scott Williams | 1983: Christopher Bowman | 1984: Viktor Petrenko | 1985: Erik Larson | 1986: Vladimir Petrenko | 1987: Rudy Galindo | 1988: Todd Eldredge | 1989: Viacheslav Zagorodniuk | 1990: Igor Pashkevich | 1991: Vasili Eremenko | 1992: Dmitri Dmitrenko | 1993: Evgeni Pliuta | 1994: Michael Weiss | 1995: Ilia Kulik | 1996: Alexei Yagudin | 1997: Evgeni Plushenko | 1998: Derrick Delmore | 1999: Ilia Klimkin | 2000: Stefan Lindemann | 2001: Johnny Weir | 2002: Daisuke Takahashi | 2003: Alexander Shubin | 2004: Andrei Griazev | 2005: Nobunari Oda | 2006: Takahiko Kozuka |
