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Icebreaker and His Obstacles
Though the Weirs expected a football player when their first son was born, they never discouraged his distinctive interests, even when he shunned balls, sticks and toy guns. Johnny Weir fell in love with figure skating after watching skaters Oksana Baiul of Ukraine and Nancy Kerrigan of the United States during the 1994 Winter Games. He spent so much time attempting single axels on roller skates in the basement that his parents finally bought him used ice skates, and he continued to hone his skills on a frozen-over patch in the cornfields behind their home.
When they took him to a local ice rink, certain he would be enticed by the hockey leagues, he instead skated off by himself, doing figures on the ice. The hockey players decided it would be fun to fire pucks at him. He jumped over those shots. "We always knew Johnny was a little bit different," John Weir said. "We were aware he had a tough time now and then."
 Johnny Weir has earned three U.S. titles as well as an official reprimand for comments he has made. (Matthew Stockman - Getty Images) |
Weir's first skating teacher expressed amazement at the technique he acquired from television and immediately recommended he join an established coach. For a while, Johnny Weir's mother made the two-hour round trips with her son to Newark, where he had begun working at age 12 with Priscilla Hill, who remains his coach. As the frequency of the lessons increased, the Weirs decided to sell their home and move the family closer to the skating rink.
Just six years after Weir took up the sport, he competed in his first senior nationals.
Throughout his adolescence, Weir felt more comfortable on skates than off. He said at the U.S. championships he could be a role model for kids who had been "squashed on." In weighing the obstacles he's had to overcome, he puts puberty up there with an on-ice meltdown at the 2003 U.S. national championships in Dallas, where he was ridiculed after he fell twice and left the rink with an injured back and knee. Indeed, Weir seems to have only recently grown into his personality. Early in his career, he seemed overly deferential to his peers and lacking in self-confidence.
At this year's nationals he attributed a string of poor results during the fall season to personal travails that accompanied his maturation to adulthood. He declined to elaborate, but mentioned a "chafing between relationships" that created frustration and distraction. The issues were merely "growing-up things," his mother said. The timing was unfortunate: He and Hill had been told by judges his programs needed reworking, and Weir's ability to focus was in tatters.
"I didn't feel good even off the ice," he said. "Going onto the ice and skating poorly, ultimately I felt worse. . . . Certain things in life I've learned you are constantly battling. There is always something nagging at your heart or mind or soul . . . [but] there is a time for guts and glory. You go home after, and cry into your pillow and pass out."
Said Hill, "We had a few rough moments where it was very emotional."
'We're Here'
Weir said he had made it "over the bridge" by the U.S. championships, but his season's problems did not end there. Though he won the men's title convincingly, his long program was rated third best by the judging panel, so he has since scrapped it in favor of one he performed last year. Weir also is striving to add a quadruple jump to his repertoire. It is a competitive element he has not yet mastered, but it is widely considered essential for an Olympic medalist.
Whether he wins a medal or not, Weir seems ready to unveil his personality to the world.
"I don't know if the sport is ready for Johnny, who is outspoken, and my husband and I, who raised him to be that way," Patti said. But "we're here. . . . If he wants two tons of rhinestones on his costumes [that's fine]. . . . He would love to open the American people's minds.
"When Johnny is on the ice, I think I can look into Johnny's soul. Johnny's flamboyance on the ice is, to me, just a natural gift. I could watch Johnny skate and never jump."
Some could listen to him talk and never skate. Tim Goebel called him one of the funniest people he has ever met. Others wish he would shut up. When asked about his reprimand from the USFSA, Johnny Weir all but shrugged, but still unleashed an even-tempered shower of sarcasm. "I love hearing bad things about myself, people reprimanding me for saying what I want to," he said. "I love that. They have their interest to uphold and I have mine. When people have different agendas, they often clash."
Added Weir: "I don't want to offend anyone who might give some money to the federation. . . . I won't make any drug references today."
Raith described his conversation with Weir as positive, saying he merely urged him to eliminate offensive remarks. "We want you to be who you are and what you are and speak your mind," Raith said. "But you don't need to talk about some things. . . . There are areas that are not appropriate."
All of the Weirs will watch Johnny perform in the Turin Games, a major achievement. Because of his back troubles, the high cost of travel and the needs of the Weirs' other son, a promising soccer player, John Weir has not attended any of Johnny's senior-level competitions. He has seen his son skate live only once, at a novice event contested in Philadelphia.
He is not sure how his back will tolerate Saturday's flight to Italy, as he can hardly stand car rides of more than an hour, but he calls the trip a "dream come true." John Weir doesn't know whether his son will medal, but he knows for certain he will be proud.
"My child's not weird," he told a reporter when queried about Johnny's reputation. "Everyone else is."
