Johnny Weir and Evan Lysacek had a finish at the United State Figure Skating Championships in St. Paul, Minn., that was unbelievably close.
Defending champion Evan Lysacek and former three-time champion Johnny Weir did the near impossible: they finished the competition with exactly 244.77 points each. The tie was broken and the championship awarded to Lysacek because he outscored Weir in the long program 162.72 to 161.37.
The two skaters are a study in contrasts as evidenced by their routines:
The script featured two men whose similarity started and ended with their results Sunday. The Chicago-born Lysacek is known for his traditional pant-and-shirt costumes and the edgy, heart-pounding drama in his skating. Weir, on the other hand, is known for his extravagance and eccentricity — today’s costume plunged off one shoulder, had a low back and, in Weir’s words, was a “sparkly onesie.” He is more elegant and lyrical than Lysacek, but often reluctant to pull out his quadruple jump.
Not that the two of them are friends: “I respect Evan as an athlete, but as a person I don’t really like him,” Weir told NBC. “There’s nothing special about him to me. We would never be friends, and I wouldn’t even know who he was if we weren’t competing against each other.” When asked about Weir’s comments after his victory, Lysacek said: “Oh that’s nice. Thank you for sharing that with me.”
But Weir has always been one of my favorites after the sly way he pushed his sexuality at the 2006 Olympics without ever saying whether of not he is gay. And he was back at it in a recent interview.
“Not everyone can relate to me,” he said, when asked if he felt he could help improve the sport’s sagging TV ratings. “My personality is a little bit harsh for some people. So I’m definitely not going to be that person that can get the little girls plus their mothers plus their fathers plus their gay brothers to watch skating.”
Amy Strauss has a terrific profile of Weir in Philadelphia Magazine that does the best job of summing up his look:
Looking pretty comes naturally to Johnny Weir. He’s a fetching hybrid of the feminine and masculine, an androgynous gossamer who attracts women and gay men equally. He’s lean and sinewy at five-foot-nine, and his most striking feature is his pouty bottom lip, the kind you want to bite, that anchors a top shelf of perfectly aligned, ice-white teeth. A brush of eyelashes frame kind, wide green eyes set off by a straight, serious set of eyebrows and a square jawline. He’s beautiful.
Johnny Weir remains one of my favorites athletes because he is who he is, without apology. I hope next year he wins nationals and gets a medal in the 2010 Olympics. –Jim Buzinski
on Jan 28th, 2008 at 7:54 am
Weir has always been a little to cocky and had too much attitude for me. At times he’s acted like an arrogant, spoiled brat when perhaps showing some class and sportsmanship would have been more appropriate. And I’m not willing to overlook that and support him just because he’s gay.
on Jan 28th, 2008 at 9:54 am
Wow trashing talking, figure skating-style! Yeah Evan looks to be losing sleep over Johnny not liking him.
Carson Kressley + Figure Skates + more sequins than Night of a Thousand Lizas = Johnny Weir
on Jan 28th, 2008 at 11:11 am
Great competition last night. Wonderful contrast of styles and both men skated superbly.
I’m a bit conflicted over Johnny Weir. Part of me loves the fact that he’s brave enough to dress and act like he does. It takes a lot of courage for a man to look and dress so femininely in society at large.
But another part of me wonders why he won’t just come out, stand up proudly and embrace being out and gay. I don’t see the upside of him being so evasive with his comment about his sexuality.
on Jan 28th, 2008 at 10:21 pm
I love the rivalry. Interviews with Johnny are always entertaining. Part of me still wonders if part of the bitchy diva is an act for tv. But I think the disdain they have for each other is real. It does makes for good tv and lord knows, they are trying their best to hype the rivalry in an effort to boost the ratings.
The most telling interview was when the NBC reporter was sitting on the sofa with both skaters and they sat as far to the opposite corner as possible and did not look at each other at all. Let’s hope they can show the same skill, passion and rivalry at Worlds.
on Jan 29th, 2008 at 12:22 am
Personally, I don’t care for Johnny Weir’s skating, but I am even a lesser fan of his attitude and personality. He really doesn’t have much to talk about when it comes to Evan. Here are the results when the two have competed internationally:
2005 Worlds - EL 3, JW 4
2006 Olympics - EL 4, JW 5
2006 Worlds - EL 3, JW 6
2007 Worlds - EL 5, JW 8
Instead of taking the high road when talking about his competitors, JW shows what he truly is - trailer park trash. And I don’t think Evan’s skating is all that great either, but he has the good sense to show some class when talking about his competition.
on Jan 29th, 2008 at 1:58 am
It’s not that I dislike Johnny, the skater. It’s just that he chokes when it’s time to perform. I love his personality off the ice. If I were to pick a favorite skater, it’d have to be Evan. I think both are superb skaters, but if we’re talking consistency, Evan is the better skater. He has the confidence in his athleticism that Johnny lacks, so when it comes to the big show, he skates better. This is the same reason why I hate Sasha Cohen, she always choked when it came down to it(She did gain major points in “Blades of Glory”). However, in this years nationals, Johnny was robbed. He was the better skater in both the short AND the long program. His jumps were more controlled, more secure and he made them look easy(which is what the upper echelon skaters are supposed to do), even his quad. And his artistry was so much better because there were no breaks in the flow. I know Evan’s style is a lot different, and whatever style someone likes is subjective, but instead of energetic and exciting, Evan came off as frenetic and out of control. And this is coming from an Evan fan. Johnny was focused and you could see that in his passion in both programs. He should have been rewarded so. Good luck to both in the Worlds and the Olympics.
I think The Big shocker was that neither Kimmie Meissner nor Caroline Zhang even medaled!!! WTF!
on Jan 29th, 2008 at 4:06 pm
It was a great competition…too bad no one cares about figure skating anymore.
This competition caps off a big comeback for Johnny. After a disappointing Olympics and even worse 2007, he could have just faded away. Instead he made some changes, put more emphasis on training and the results have been great so far.
I suspect Johnny won’t be too traumatized by this result just because there are so many positives to take away. He went for the quad and almost landed it. Most importantly, he nailed his program under the most intense pressure, skating right after his rival earned a standing ovation. He walks away knowing that many people thought he should have won and that if these programs were being judged at Worlds, the result would’ve likely been reversed.