Thoughts from a busy Wednesday in Vancouver:
2002 Olympic Pairs Champion Jamie Sale took a few shots at Russian Skater, Evgeni Plushenko. Sale, while speaking to the media, said, “I don’t buy his skating, his artistry, and I don’t the marks he receives. His skating is not believable.” Hmmmm, so iIm assuming Sale is not a [...]

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Belgian figure skater Kevin van der Perren caught my eye at the Olympics in 2006, and he did it again during the men’s short program Tuesday night. He had one of the most striking outfits for the night (the black-and-white skeleton number), and he may have had the most chiseled face. While earrings aren’t generally [...]

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It’s funny to me that we still get asked the question: “Is Johnny Weir gay?” People started asking during the 2006 Winter Olympics, when Weir was all over NBC, including segments titled “Weir eye for the straight guy” and “He’s hear, he’s Weir.” That was when he talked about listening to Christina Aguilera and his [...]

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Before I get my review of the men’s short program, there is an issue I need to address with one of my former fellow competitor’s, Elvis Stojko: Go f*** yourself! Now with that out of the way, let’s down to people who are doing good things.
A short program will not win you the Olympics, but [...]

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Figure skater Evan Lysacek is supposed to be the great masculine hope for figure skaters, but did you see his outfit during the short program Tuesday night? Wow. Only Johnny Weir’s black-and-pink corsett was gayer. But it worked for Lysacek; He is second after the short program and has a great shot at a medal.
I [...]

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While gay fans appear to throw their collective support behind Johnny Weir, Evan Lysacek has managed to scrounge up supporters elsewhere. He’s got at least one notable fan club: the Los Angeles Lakers. Yahoo Sports’s Martin Rogers writes about the skater’s links to the NBA franchise, which includes coach Phil Jackson’s blessing to use the team’s weight room.
“The Los Angeles Lakers [...]

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Canadian former Olympic silver medalist Elvis Stojko is still on the warpath, fighting the horrors of effeminate men in figure skating. And he didn’t hold back in an interview with Salon:
“People in the gay community have to realize they’ve got to take themselves out of it. It’s not against anybody. I’ve been getting heat for [...]

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How sweet it is…for the Chinese figure skaters, who went 1-2 in the pairs medals, with Shen and Zhao winning gold for the first time ever.  Sweeter still for their coach Bin Yao, who is getting heaps of recognition for his many years of patience and hard work. And very sweet to remember that a [...]

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As expected, Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo were crowned the Olympics Pairs Champions, the first skating gold medal ever for China. But nobody showed up to compete. The Germans fell, the Russians fell.
But the big surprise tonight was their teammates Pang Qing and Tong Jian moving up from fourth to second place with a [...]

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No Winter Olympics is complete without hot discussion of costumes on figure skaters!  As I watched the pairs short program yesterday, I was pleased to see Ukraine’s Volosozhar and Morozov step away from the conventional duds… into those electric blue spandex suits. Some reviewers thought they were ridiculous — but I say they were a [...]

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The Americans and Canadians disappointed everyone at the pairs figure skating short program. While the Canadians sit sixth and seventh respectively, the Americans sit 10th and 14th. Mistakes befell the an inexperienced American contingent going into this Olympics.
However the teams sitting 1-4 are of no surprise to the skating world. The showdown has been set [...]

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The men’s event begins on Tuesday in Vancouver with the short program and ends on Thursday with the free.  The men’s competition may be quite a bit different than you’re used to this time around, if only because of the unusual number of veterans and heavy-hitters vying for gold.  In Nagano, Salt Lake City and [...]

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Someone at the U.S. Olympic Committee has a sense of humor: U.S. figure skater Johnny Weir has a roommate in Vancouver, and it’s a woman. And not just any woman, but Tanith Belbin, the ex-girlfriend of Weir’s U.S. teammate Evan Lysacek. Weir and Belbin each wanted single rooms, but none were available. At least we [...]

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Sometimes when history is made it is so obviously overdue that it overshadows itself with larger questions. An article posted on Vancouver’s official Olympic Web site points out that history will be made today when French pairs skaters Yannick Bonheur and Vanessa James step on the ice to skate their short program.
The reason? Both Bonheur [...]

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The most-talked-about American Winter Olympian has to be Johnny Weir. I hope he can channel his focus during his short- and long-programs as well as he does during his exhibition to Lady Gaga’s hit.

By Cyd Zeigler jr.

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It used to be that everyday Americans cared about Winter Olympic sports for at least a month or two every four years. But that window has grown narrower. When held on North American soil, the Olympics tend to feel grander and more “present” than when held overseas.
But Vancouver might as well be at the South Pole for all the excitement it’s generated. [...]

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