JOHNNY WEIR

'Most Recent Results:'
''Event''	''Points''	''Finish''	''Year''
World Championships	206.97	8th	2007
National Championships	213.20	3rd	2007
Cup of Russia	196.28	2nd	2006
Skate Canada	198.70	3rd	2006

'John G. "Johnny" Weir' (born July 2, 1984 in Coatesville, Pennsylvania) is an American figure skater. He is a three-time U.S. national champion (2004-2006) and the 2007 national bronze medalist. He is currently ranked 9th in the world.^[1] Unlike most figure skaters, he is a clockwise spinner.

Contents

Biography

Early career

Senior success

Coaching changes

Off the Ice

Programs

Choreography

Competitive Highlights

References

External links

Navigation

Biography

Weir originally competed as an equestrian. He became interested in figure skating while watching Oksana Baiul win her Olympic gold medal. 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. He competed in pair skating with Jodi Rudden on the juvenile and intermediate levels, but gave it up to focus on single skating.

Early career

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 Junior podium. Weir also placed sixth that year at the senior U.S. Figure Skating Championships.
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. Shortly after this competition, he switched club afiliation from the University of Delaware FSC to the Skating Club of New York, which he still represents.

Senior success

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 of his career 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. Then he went to compete at Worlds with injury and placed fourth.
The 2005-2006 Olympic season proved difficult for Weir. He came in seventh at Skate Canada International 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 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, winning his third consecutive title and, as the national champion, was automatically named to the U.S. Olympic and World teams.
At the Olympics, Weir skated a personal best short program and was in second place behind Evgeni Plushenko in that segment. However, Weir omitted some of his planned jumps in the free skating, and fell to fifth in the final standings. At the 2006 World Championships, Weir finished seventh, fighting a nagging back injury. Weir landed his first clean quadruple jump at the competition.
He began the 2006-2007 competitive season at Skate Canada International, where he placed third. He went on to Cup of Russia and won the silver medal, his third consecutive medal at that event. He withdrew from the Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final after the short program due to injury. In the 2007 National Championships, Weir was in second place after the short program, less than a point behind Evan Lysacek. In the free program, he was unable to complete his triple axel combination, fell on a triple loop and doubled several of his planned combinations. He attempted a quadruple toe loop but it was heavily two-footed on the landing. Weir finished in third place behind Ryan Bradley and Evan Lysacek. At the World Championships, Weir placed eighth.

Coaching changes

Weir originally trained at the University of Delaware. He moved to the Pond Ice Arena in Newark, Delaware after the 2002/2003 season. From the beginning of his career, he trained under coach Priscilla Hill. He changed coaches in the spring of 2007 to Galina Zmievskaya, who previously coached Weir's idol Oksana Baiul, and Nina Petrenko in Wayne, New Jersey.^{[2] [3]}
Weir also previously trained part time under Tatiana Tarasova.

Off the Ice

Weir studied linguistics at the University of Delaware before dropping out in his second year to concentrate on his skating. He is interested in fashion design and is a self-proclaimed "Russiaphile" who admires the style of skating and language of Russia. He also speaks French. Weir has designed costumes for Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov.
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 . Weir modeled for the Heatherette show during Olympus Fashion Week in the fall of 2006 and again in the spring of 2007. He is an avid collector of Russian Cheburashka memorabilia.

Programs

Season	''Short Program''	''Long Program''	''Exhibition''
2007-2008	''Yunona I Avos'' by Svetlana Pikous	''Love is War'' by Globus
2006-2007	''King of Chess'' by Silent Nick (Karl Jenkins - Palladio Suite)	''Child of Nazareth'' by Maxime Rodriguez	''My Way'' by Frank Sinatra ''Yunona and Avos'' by Alexei Rybnikov ''The Swan'' by Camille Saint-Saëns ''Imagine'' by John Lennon ''All In Love Is Fair'' (Title: Painful Longing) by Stevie Wonder ''Sarabande Suite'' (Title: Fallen Angels) by Globus ''Passacaglia''/''Nature Boy'' (Title: Enchanted) by Secret Garden and David Bowie
2005-2006	''The Swan'' by Camille Saint-Saëns	''Amazonic + Hana's Eyes + Wonderland'' by Maksim Mrvica ''Otonal'' by Raul DiBlasio	''My Way'' by Frank Sinatra
2004-2005	''Rondo Capriccioso'' by Camille Saint-Saëns	''Otonal'' by Raul DiBlasio	''Unchained Melody'' by The Righteous Brothers ''What a Wonderful World'' by Louis Armstrong ''Yunona and Avos'' by Alexei Rybnikov
2003-2004	''Valse Triste'' by Jean Sibelius	''Dr. Zhivago'' by Maurice Jarre	''Imagine'' by John Lennon
2002-2003	''"Innocence" and "Zydeko"'' by Benoit Jutras	''Dr. Zhivago'' by Maurice Jarre
2001-2002	''Les Parapluies de Cherbourg'' by Itzhak Perlman	''Themes from "The Puppet Master," "Spirit of the Peacock," and "City of Sadness"'' by Zhao Jiping and Nic Rain	''Cinema Paradiso'' in 4CC
2000-2001	''Les Parapluies de Cherbourg'' by Itzhak Perlman	★ ''The Heart of Budapest'' by Mantovani	★ ''What a Wonderful World'' by Louis Armstrong ★ ''This I Promise You'' by NSync
1999-2000	''Espana Cani'' by Erich Kunzel	''"An American Tail" Soundtrack''	''What a Wonderful World'' by Louis Armstrong ''She's All I Ever Had'' by Ricky Martin
1998-1999	''Sabre Dance''	''Malaguena''
1997-1998	''Russian Folk Music'' by Svetit Masjaz	'' Malaguena ''
1996-1997	'Juvenile Program': ''"Rudy" Soundtrack''

Choreography

' Competitive Short Program'

★ ''Yunona I Avos'' by Faye Kitarieva

★ ''King of Chess'' by Marina Anissina

★ ''The Swan'' by Tatiana Tarasova, Shanette Folee, Evgeny Platov

★ ''Rondo Capriccioso'' by Tatiana Tarasova, Evgeny Platov

★ ''Valse Triste'' by Tatiana Tarasova, Maya Usova, Evgeny Platov

★ ''"Innocence" and "Zydeko"'' by Michelle Poley

★ ''Les Parapluies de Cherbourg (The Umbrellas of Cherbourg)'' by Yuri Sergeyev
' Competitive Long Program'

★ ''Love is War'' by Denis Petukhov

★ ''Child of Nazareth'' by Marina Anissina

★ ''Amazonic + Hana's Eyes + Wonderland'' by Tatiana Tarasova, Shanette Folee

★ ''Otonal'' by Tatiana Tarasova, Evgeny Platov

★ ''Dr. Zhivago'' by Giuseppe Arena, Anjelika Krylova

★ ''The Heart of Budapest'' by Yuri Sergeyev

★ ''Malaguena'' by Yuri Sergeyev
' Exhibition'

★ ''Passacaglia/Nature Boy'' (Title: Enchanted) by Johnny Weir

★ ''Sarabande Suite'' (Title: Fallen Angels) by Denis Petukhov, Natalia Linichuk, Tatiana Tarasova

★ ''All In Love Is Fair'' (Title: Painful Longing) by Johnny Weir

★ ''My Way'' by Carolanne Leone, Johnny Weir

★ ''Yunona and Avos'' by Oleg Ovsiannikov, Anjelika Krylova

★ ''Unchained Melody'' by Carolanne Leone

★ ''Imagine'' by Johnny Weir

★ ''What a Wonderful World'' by Priscilla Hill, Johnny Weir

★ ''This I Promise You'' by Priscilla Hill, Johnny Weir

Competitive Highlights

Event	1997-1998	1998-1999	1999-2000	2000-2001	2001-2002	2002-2003	2003-2004	2004-2005	2005-2006	2006-2007
Winter Olympic Games									5th
World Championships							5th	4th	7th	8th
Four Continents Championships					4th
World Junior Championships				1st
United States Championships	3rd N.	4th J.	5th J.	6th	5th	WD	1st	1st	1st	3rd
Grand Prix Final										WD
Skate Canada International					7th				7th	3rd
Trophée Eric Bompard					4th			1st
Cup of Russia						WD		2nd	3rd	2nd
NHK Trophy						WD		1st
Finlandia Trophy							2nd
Junior Grand Prix, China				2nd
Junior Grand Prix, France				6th
Junior Grand Prix, Norway			2nd
Junior Grand Prix, Czech Republic			7th
Junior Grand Prix, Slovakia		1st
Triglav Trophy	2nd N.

★ N = Novice level; J = Junior level; WD = Withdrew

References

1. http://www.isufs.org/ws/wsmen.htm
2. U.S. Figure Skating Athlete Bio for Johnny Weir
3. http://www.ifsmagazine.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=431&pid=612&st=0&#entry612

External links

★ Official MySpace

★ Johnny Weir Official Website

★

★

★ U.S. Olympic Team bio

★ Michael Collins Enterprises

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