Johnny Weir
John Garvin Weir is an American television commentator and retired figure skater. He is a two-time Olympian, the 2008 World bronze medalist, a two-time Grand Prix Final bronze medalist, the 2001 World Junior Champion, and a three-time U.S. National champion. He was the youngest U.S. National champion since 1991, in 2006 the first skater to win U.S. Nationals three times in a row since Brian Boitano in the late 1980s, and the first American to win Cup of Russia in 2007.
Weir was raised in Quarryville, Pennsylvania, winning several equestrian competitions before switching to figure skating at the age of 12. Priscilla Hill was his first coach. He became eligible to compete in the Junior Grand Prix during the 1999–2000 season and won the 2001 Junior World Championship. The following season, Weir competed as a senior for the first time, coming in sixth place at the U.S. Nationals. The 2003–2004 season was "the turning point" for Weir, when he trained with Tatiana Tarasova and won his first national title at age 19.
At the 2006 U.S. Nationals, Weir was the first male skater to win three consecutive U.S. titles since Brian Boitano almost 20 years previously. He finished third at the 2007 U.S. Nationals and replaced his long-time coach, Priscilla Hill, with Galina Zmievskaya for the 2007–2008 season. At the 2008 U.S. Nationals, he tied for first place with Evan Lysacek, both with a combined score of 244.77 points, but Lysacek was named the U.S. champion because, following ISU regulations, he won the free skate. Weir finished fifth place at the 2009 U.S. Nationals, the first time since 2003 that Weir did not qualify to compete at the World Championships. He was ready to quit figure skating before the 2009–2010 season, but ended up qualifying for the 2010 Winter Olympics by winning bronze at the 2010 U.S. Nationals. Weir retired from competitive figure skating in 2013. He joined NBC as a commentator beginning at the Sochi Olympics in 2014. He was teamed with sports commentator Terry Gannon and fellow figure skater Tara Lipinski; also in 2014, they became NBC's primary figure skating analysts, commentating for skating in two Olympics.
Weir had a classical skating style and was known for being "a very lyrical skater" and "an entertaining artisan". He often designed his own costumes or worked extensively with his designers and later was known for his fashion choices as a broadcaster. His costume choices and outspokenness caused conflicts with U.S. Figure Skating, the governing body of the sport in the U.S., throughout his skating career. Television commentators would bring up his sexual orientation during his performances, causing him to publicly address homophobic remarks by commentators during the 2010 Olympics. He came out in early 2011 and has been involved in LGBTQ activism.
Early life
Weir was born on July 2, 1984, in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, the eldest son of John Weir, a nuclear power plant engineer, and Patti Weir, a nuclear power plant worker and home inspector. He is of Norwegian heritage, and has one brother, Brian "Boz" Weir, who is four years younger. Weir was raised in Quarryville, Pennsylvania, a rural town in Amish-dominated central Pennsylvania.Weir's father had competed in English saddle events. Weir was also an accomplished rider; by the age of nine, he had won several equestrian competitions and competed in the Devon Horse Show with his Shetland pony, Shadow. His family moved to New Britain, Connecticut, so he could train. He later said that horse riding had given him body awareness, preparing him for figure skating.
Weir began skating at the age of 12. Soon after, his family moved to Newark, Delaware, in early 1996, so he could be near his training rink and coach. Weir was an honor roll student at Newark High School, where he graduated in 2002, and studied linguistics at the University of Delaware before dropping out.
Competitive career
Early career
In 1992, after Weir and his family watched Kristi Yamaguchi win a gold medal at the Albertville Winter Olympics, his parents bought him a pair of used figure skates, which he used to teach himself to skate on a patch of ice in the cornfields near their home in Quarryville. When the weather was warmer, he practiced jumps on roller skates in the basement of his family's home. In 1994, he was inspired to further pursue figure skating after watching Oksana Baiul compete at the 1994 Winter Olympics, during the sport's rise in popularity caused by the Nancy Kerrigan attack at the 1994 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. For Christmas, his parents bought him a new pair of skates and a package of group lessons at the University of Delaware, 45 minutes from their home. He had a natural talent for jumping.By the time he was 12, Weir was performing single Axels, which he learned after a week of lessons; by the time he turned 13, he learned all the single and double jumps, as well as his first triple jump, the salchow. Also when he was 12, he began training with Priscilla Hill, who had coached many skaters and won national medals as a competitive skater. According to sports writer Barry Mittan, Weir was two or three times older than when most elite skaters start training, although it was not an obstacle for him. Weir made the decision to quit equestrian, since he could not do both and his family could not afford both sports, and they moved again, to Delaware, so Weir could train with Hill.
Weir competed in both singles and pair skating during his first year of competition; Hill paired him with Jodi Rudden to help him focus on other aspects of figure skating, such as spins, stroking, and artistry, rather than on jumping. Rudden and Weir won the South Atlantic Regionals and qualified for the Junior Olympics in juvenile pairs that first year, and in intermediate pairs the following season. Also in his first year of single skating, Weir finished fourth as a juvenile in the Junior Olympics and won first place in the South Atlantic Regionals, also as a juvenile.
During the 1997–1998 season, Weir won regional and other minor competitions as a novice in single skating and came in third place in the novice division at the U.S. National Championships. Weir moved up to the junior level during the 1998–1999 season. Like the previous year, he competed in regional and minor competitions and came in fourth place at the U.S. Nationals. Weir stated that along with his relative inexperience with competing and a growth spurt, he struggled with nerves during this period, which affected his performances.
1999–2003
Weir became eligible to compete in the Junior Grand Prix during the 1999–2000 season, coming in seventh and second place in his two Junior Grand Prix assignments. At the 2000 U.S. Nationals, he was the only competitor in the junior division who attempted a triple Axel in his short program, but despite his falling, the judges put him in first place. He fell again during his free skate, and ended up in fifth place, while Evan Lysacek, in their first meeting in competition, came in first, even though Lysacek was in fifth after the short program.Weir won the Junior Eastern Sectionals in 1999 and 2000. The following season, Weir competed as a senior for the first time, coming in sixth place at the U.S. Nationals despite "a bad hip flexor injury", and winning the Eastern Sectionals as a senior. He was the third alternate at the 2000 Junior Grand Prix final, coming in sixth and second place at his two Junior Grand Prix assignments, but won, at the age of 16, the gold medal at the World Junior Championships. He was the tenth American to win at Junior Worlds and the first American male skater since Derrick Delmore won in 1998. Lysacek won the silver medal; it was the first time since Rudy Galindo and Todd Eldredge in 1987 American men came in first and second place. Despite falling on the simplest jump in his short program, a triple flip, Weir was placed first going into the free skate. Weir received the best artistic scores, receiving 5.7s for presentation in his free skate.
Weir was ranked 18th-best in the world in 2001. He came in seventh place and fourth place in his two Grand Prix assignments during the 2001–2002 season, participated in the Goodwill Games and a team pro-am competition, came in fifth place at the 2002 U.S. Nationals, and came in fourth place in the 2002 Four Continents Championships.
In the 2002–2003 season, which figure skating reporter Lou Parees called "disastrous" for Weir, he skated in one international competition, the Finlandia Trophy and withdrew from the Cup of Russia. He also withdrew, during his free skate, from the 2003 U.S. Championships in Dallas, which gold medalist Michael Weiss called "the most bizarre national championships ever". Weir was in second place after the short program, with a clean skate with all eight required elements. He felt confident going into the free skate, but hit the rink wall 23 seconds after he started, catching his blade between the ice and wall while doing a "simple crossover". He fell and injured his back, but the referee allowed him to continue where he stopped. He stepped out of his first triple Axel and fell again on his second, injuring his knee to the point that he had to withdraw.
Philanthropist Helen McLoraine, who had helped support Weir and other skaters financially for many years, fell leaving the rink after a skating session in Dallas and died, something that added to his sense of "personal failure and...painful loss". Weir later reported that due to what he called his "stupidity and hubris", U.S. Figure Skating withdrew their support of him; sportswriter Barry Mittan stated that they "essentially gave up on Weir".
2003–2004 season
The 2003–2004 season was "the turning point" for Weir; Mittan called it "an amazing comeback". In the summer of 2003, he trained with Russian coach Tatiana Tarasova for six weeks at the International Skating Center in Simsbury, Connecticut. Weir's friend and fellow skater Sasha Cohen helped him contact Tarasova, who waived her fees for him. Working with Tarasova gave Weir the confidence he needed to recover from the previous season. He moved from his longtime rink, the more prestigious one at the University of Delaware, to a nearby rink called The Pond, which was less crowded and not as well-known.The only Grand Prix competition U.S. Figure Skating assigned to Weir that season was "the second tier" Finlandia Trophy. He was one of two skaters to skate a clean short program with a triple Lutz-triple toe loop combination, a "scratchy triple Axel", and the best spins in the field. He was first after the short program, but came in second place overall, slightly behind Gheorghe Chiper from Romania. Weir popped both his Lutz and loop jumps, but successfully performed his triple Axel-triple toe loop combination and four other triple jumps. He had to compete in the Eastern Sectionals again, coming in first place despite a fall and securing a spot in the U.S. Nationals.
Weir came into the 2004 U.S. Nationals in Atlanta with "something to prove". He came in first place, the first to do so by qualifying at sectionals since Rudy Galindo in 1996. It was his first national title. He was also the youngest male skater, at the age of 19, to win the U.S. Nationals since Todd Eldredge won in 1991, also at the age of 19. Weir's short program was not the most difficult, but he had "a clean and elegant skate" with a triple Lutz-triple toe combination, a triple Axel, and a triple flip, all landed successfully. He was in first place after the short program, with marks ranging from 4.9 to 5.8. He also won the free skate, even though he did not include a quadruple jump. Skating last, his program was "elegant yet loaded with solid jumps", including eight triple jumps and two combination jumps: a triple Axel-triple toe and his triple Lutz-triple toe. After completing his free skate, Weir kissed his hand and pounded the ice with it as the audience gave him a standing ovation; he stated, "I was very thankful at that point, and I was thanking the ice in Atlanta for letting me do my best". His scores ranged from 5.8 to 6.0, which included seven 5.9s for technical merit and a 6.0 for presentation, the first perfect score earned by a man at U.S. Nationals since Michael Weiss earned one in 2000; all but two judges placed Weir in first place. Weir also stated, about his performance: "It was a cool feeling to be written off and then come back to show them what I am made of...I hope I shut up everyone who counted me out".
U.S. Figure Skating named Weir to the U.S. World Championships team. He came in fifth place; teammate Michael Weiss came in sixth. Weir opened his short program with a triple Lutz-triple toe loop combination, followed by a triple Axel and a triple flip, earning marks ranging from 5.0 to 5.7. Neither Weir nor Weiss completed quadruple jumps in their free skating programs, whereas the top four placements all performed quads in theirs. It was the first time since 1994 that no American male won medals at the World Championships. Weir, however, came back from seventh place after the short program by completing eight "elegant triples" in his long program, like he had done at U.S. Nationals. His technical scores ranged from 5.3 to 5.7 and his presentation scores were as high as 5.8.
Weir skated in the final ISU-sanctioned competition of the season, the 2004 Marshall's World Figure Skating Challenge. coming in third place. He earned marks ranging from 5.4 to 5.7 in his technical scores, and 5.6 to 5.8 in his artistic scores, doubling one jump and stepping out of a triple Axel. He toured with Champions on Ice the summer of 2004, with Cohen, Irina Slutskaya, Elena Sokolova, and his "skating hero", Evgeni Plushenko.