Johnny Weir - three-time US champion in figure skatingacting in singles. To fans of this sport, he is known primarily for his shocking costumes, artistry and a style different from other skaters.
Not only is his style so graceful and flexible that any girl will envy, so Johnny Weir also, contrary to most of his colleagues, jumps and rotates clockwise. The American Figure Skating Association and Skating Magazine have twice named him as Readers' Choice: Skater of the Year. However, this title is nothing compared to the fact that in 2010 the International Astronomical Union assigned the name of this athlete to the small planet 12413 Johnnyweir.
Once he admitted that, while riding, he goes into his own dream world. And in his world there are only clouds, sparkles and the smell of French perfume Chanel No. 5. His world is, perhaps, the same as himself: shiny, airy, fragrant. Weir's relationship with the world of sports developed in some magical way, which, however, is not at all surprising for such an airy-unpredictable-sudden person like Johnny.
John Garvin Weir was born on July 2, 1984 in the small American town of Coatesville, Pennsylvania. I became interested in figure skating at the age of eleven, which is rather late for those wishing to practice, and even more so, to devote their lives to this sport. Before that, little Johnny was quite successful in equestrian sports, participated in various competitions, in a word, he rode horses well. And in 1994, he decided overnight that it would be nice to try ice skating. The inspiration came to Weir after Oksana Baiul's performance, which the boy saw during the broadcast of the figure skating tournament at the Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. Inspired by the performance of the Ukrainian athlete, Johnny decided that mastering this beautiful sport was urgent. But the future champion did not have skates.
Savvy and resourcefulness are the main differences between children and adults. These are the very qualities that sometimes make a very young person successful and successful, and provide him with a bright life and a bright future. Neither a pragmatic mind, nor a rational approach sometimes cope with such difficult tasks as building your own happiness and creating inner harmony.
Agile Johnny decided to master jumping, training in the basement own home on rollerskates. When young Weir received the long-awaited skates as a gift from his parents, the field behind the house, frozen in winter, became a training ground for him. So began the career of perhaps the most unusual skater of our time.
Horses, of course, had to be forgotten. Pay for equestrian sports and figure skating at the same time, the parents of the promising athlete could not. Later Johnny had not only to leave his partner Jody Rudden and go to single skating, but also to drop out of university.
As it turned out, all the sacrifices were not made in vain. After just a week of training under the guidance of coach Priscilla Hill, Weir learned to jump the axel, which is considered the most difficult jump in figure skating.
The sports career of John Garvin Weir can be graphically depicted as a drawing for the paragraph "Harmonic vibrations" in the textbook " Physical fundamentals mechanics ". Victories gave way to defeats, successes - to failures, injuries - to recoveries; and the bronze medal of the world championship remains highest achievement Johnny on ice arena... However, Weir constantly strived to be not only an athlete, but also an actor. At the same time, being an artist is much more important for Weir than a skater. Yes, in sports he is ambitious, but at the same time he treats any injury and failure as an opportunity to take a sabbatical and rediscover himself. Which he did after the Olympic Games in Vancouver, where he became only sixth. Johnny missed the next season after the Olympics, spending it on writing his memoirs Welcome to My World and recording the single Dirty Love.
Weir is an avid Russophile. Johnny never tires of repeating that he admires and adores Russian culture and art. He studied with a teacher in order to learn to speak and read in Russian. From the age of five he is in love with Russia. He always carries with him a small collection of Pushkin's poems, revises the masterpiece of Soviet cinema "Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears", listens to songs performed by Alla Pugacheva, is not indifferent to the work of Sergei Lazarev. He loves pies with chicken, black caviar, and often discusses bags and fur coats with his elderly friends, as well as how to properly prepare Olivier salad.
Yes, the figure skater's friends are elderly Russian ladies. Why are they his best friends? Because Johnny, by his own admission, is an elderly Russian woman at heart. This "woman" worships Evgeny Plushenko, Irina Slutskaya, Svetlana Khorkina, collects Cheburashek and calls Moscow her favorite city, without being cunning at all. After all, it is unlikely that the cheater will be awarded the prize "For Love for Russia." Weir confirms his bright feeling for our country not only in conversations with journalists and fans, but also during performances.
Not only does the athlete try not to miss a single stage of the Grand Prix in Russia, but also wins the appreciation of the audience, performing to the romance "I will never forget you!" After all of the above, it is not hard to guess that John Weir trained under the guidance of Galina Zmievskaya, the former mentor of Oksana Baiul, who at one time became a guiding star for Weir.
Zmievskaya completely changed the skater's regime and image, his approach to training, and the style of skating, which many spectators, colleagues, judges and other specialists called feminine. However, not only his behavior on the ice, but also "unsportsmanlike" manners are very elegant and sophisticated. In figure skating, he loves shiny, sparkling, extravagant costumes, and in his free time from training and performances he is fond of clothing design: he makes sketches and patterns of outfits that only the same daredevil as Johnny himself can wear (they were dressed by Melissa Gregory, Denis Petukhov , and Weyr's muse - Oksana Baiul).
The American loves to demonstrate his beauty by participating in photo shoots for fashion magazines, the most famous of which was the one where Johnny stood in front of the camera lenses in a mini-skirt and graceful women's high-heeled shoes. That issue of BlackBook magazine instantly disappeared from store shelves and newsstands.
Such a versatile person: an athlete by profession, a model and designer in combination, a Russophile and who also speaks French and Japanese, must be different from others to the very end.
In December 2011, Johnny Weir married an American lawyer of Russian origin, Viktor Voronov. Despite the fact that Weir's homosexuality has been so obvious for a fairly long time, the athlete carefully denied the rumors about it. In this case, the majority of the cruel and loving to criticize the earthly stars, the audience can be justified, given famous photos in the BlackBook and the equally famous short program to the music of Camille Saint-Saens "The Swan" - perhaps one of the most popular compositions used in women's ballet.
The shocking athlete and his chosen one tied the knot on New Year's Eve. The three-time US champion shared this good news with the general public on his twitter. “Finally married!” Weir was laconic, but definitely happy.
Young people met about five years ago in New York. Victor did not have the slightest idea about his new acquaintance, and after parting due to the forced departure of Voronov to Atlanta, the young people realized that, contrary to all existing norms, they were far from each other - beyond their control.
“Victor embodies everything that I was looking for in a person with whom I would like to always be close, - wrote Johnny in his microblog a few days after the magical New Year's Eve, - I am now married, I am very happy! Life in sin is over. "
Victor, like Johnny, does not hide his emotions, calling his chosen one the most amazing and wonderful person, and, claiming that next to him a serious lawyer will never be bored.
The only pity is that the unusual lovers did not have a magnificent celebration. Rumor has it that Johnny and Victor wanted to legitimize their relationship so badly that they did not waste time preparing for the ceremony, and this is not a one-day affair. To "live in sin" again would be sheer torment for such vulnerable natures. The solemn ceremony was attended only by the parents of those who took oaths of love and loyalty. Johnny's mom was crying. But not when her son spoke so touching words to Victor standing opposite him, about trust, devotion, wealth and poverty, health and illness. She cried when she heard from her son that he was a homosexual. Not because she was ashamed of him, she wanted everything to be like everyone else, she wanted grandchildren. Because she blamed herself. She believed that her gay son was her mistake.
The honeymoon, unlike the wedding ceremony, went by all the rules, the couple went to the Dominican Republic to enjoy the sea, sun and white sand. Perhaps, only in such places, you stop taking seriously various things, and maybe even everything. This is the principle that John Garvin Weir-Ravens lives by. Johnny thinks that taking anything too seriously is bad. Yes, the athlete admits that he is strange, but he loves to have fun, despite the fact that figure skating is an old sport in which tradition rules.
The most eccentric skater in history and America's main Russophile Johnny is not at all embarrassed by this. Though Weir announced the end professional career, he is not going to stop doing what he loves. An outlandish and flamboyant ex-athlete, he plans to perform in ice shows, and during the Sochi Olympics will become a colleague of Russian tennis player Maria Sharapova. Flanked by the Russian beauty and recent Olympic figure skaters Tara Lipinski and Tanit Belbin, Johnny will serve as a commentator for NBC, the official broadcaster of the 2014 North American Games.
The skater got married, but left his last name
Three-time U.S. champion Johnny WEIR, who seems to have completed sports career, suddenly announced that he would like - following the example of Yevgeny PLYUSHCHENKO - to perform at the Sochi Olympics. The 27-year-old American has not participated in competitions for two years, but during this time he managed to find himself a second half. Handsome Johnny ... got married!
Rumors about his unconventional orientation in the world of figure skating have been around for a long time. And when Johnny Weir in the short program performed the famous "Swan" from a musical play Saint-Saens, and then was photographed in a miniskirt and high-heeled shoes, suspicions increased even more. At the Vancouver Olympics, one of the Canadian commentators, looking at Weir's soft and plastic movements, said that this skater should have performed in women's tournament... What started here! Johnny was offended, let out a tear, the Americans demanded an apology from the Canadian, and he didn't! I had to influence the commentator through diplomatic channels, and only then did the apology follow. A year later, in an interview with People magazine, Weir finally admitted that he was a homosexual.
The intestine is thin
The chosen one of the popular skater was a Russian lawyer Victor Voronov, a graduate of Georgetown Law School. As it turned out, the young people met several years ago in New York, and Voronov was far from sports and had no idea what Johnny was doing. They were quickly drawn to each other. When Victor was forced to return from New York to Atlanta, Johnny was depressed - he literally did not find a place for himself! But last summer, the "doves" met again, and the whirlwind of love spun them with renewed vigor.
Victor embodies everything that I was looking for in a person with whom I would like to always be close, - wrote Johnny Weir on his Twitter. - I am now married, I am very happy! The life of sin is over!
The young people entered into their same-sex marriage in New York, and spent their honeymoon in the Dominican Republic. Vitya gave his lover a massage every evening, and he quietly moaned with pleasure. Johnny wanted to get married so much that he agreed to a marriage without a wedding - they simply did not have time to prepare it. However, the skater's friends and acquaintances transparently hint that it is still necessary to organize a magnificent party on such an occasion. They are, they say, waiting.It is curious that after registration, the husband took himself a double surname - Weir-Voronov. Johnny kept the old one.
The American skater has two more years to prepare for the Sochi Games. Weir is younger Plushenko, so that physical strength he'll probably have enough. True, Johnny will hardly be able to win against our champion. So far he has never succeeded - apparently, the intestines are thin.
By the way
Johnny Weir learned Russian on his own, collects plush Cheburashkas and knows Russian culture well. And he gave his dog a rare name in the USA - Vanya.
INTERVIEWER Elena VAYTSEKHOVSKAYA
In America, he was considered the most talented person ever to win a U.S. championship. He became the champion for three seasons in a row, including the Olympic one - before the Games in Turin. There, the figure skater was predicted a golden future, considering Evgeni Plushenko to be almost the only real rival, but he remained fifth. In Vancouver, he also did not reach the podium, and a few months before the start of the Games in Sochi, he somehow very casually ended his amateur career, refusing to participate in the Olympic selection. With his retirement from the sport ended not very successful in terms of medals, but a very bright era. The era of Johnny Weir.
In mid-October, we met with the legend of American figure skating in Novogorsk, Moscow Region.
Until now, I have very ambivalent feelings about your departure from amateurs. I really wanted to see you on the ice, although I perfectly understood that ...
That I am no longer a fighter?
That your career doesn't end on the highest note, shall we say. I remember too well how brilliant the future was predicted for you in 2001, when you became the world junior champion. How difficult was the decision to end the sport?
It was heavy. My career wasn't ordinary from the beginning. I started skating too late - at the age of 12. That is, he did not grow up on the ice, like most skaters, but was forced to learn a lot of things very quickly. In some ways he succeeded, in others he did not. Had I initially had more inner confidence in my own abilities, perhaps the results could have been different.
As for my departure, I really wanted to perform in Sochi. It's just that this desire didn't fit very well with my daily life. It contained a whole bunch of all sorts of things that frankly prevented me from fully concentrating on training, although I knew perfectly well that at least two performances in the Olympic season would require all my strength. This is a national championship, where you need to be selected for a team with sufficiently strong competition, and the Games themselves.
I have always believed that it makes sense to participate in competitions only when you are able to fight for victory. Well, or at least you think that you have a chance to fight for it. But I have no chance for by and large was gone. And I myself was perfectly aware of this: I could not get better, I could not become younger, I could not compensate for those years of training that I did not have in childhood. I could rely only on my talent and popularity, but this is not the basis on which one can seriously rely on, speaking at the Olympics. Therefore, more and more often I began to think that I didn’t have to get up on skates in order to participate in the Games. And in the end I went to them as an NBC commentator.
* * *
- At your first Games in Turin, you played as the US champion.
Just that year, he won the national championship for the third time in a row. The Games themselves became an enormous stress for me. Not only did I dream about them for nine years, but also a great many people looked at me as a person capable of fighting Plushenko. You know, now I have enough time to look at my own career as if from the outside, to rethink some things, to analyze mistakes. I was perfectly prepared for those Games physically, but not mentally. Roughly speaking, if I had 15 or 20 years of competitive experience behind me, perhaps I would have been able to pull myself together and perform in the free program as well as I did in the short program, where I showed the second result. Between the first and second performances, we then had a day of rest, and during this day I worked myself up to such an extent that I could not eat, sleep, or breathe. In general, I stopped understanding what was happening. And in the free program he completely collapsed.
Although looking back, I understand perfectly well that the Games in Turin were my only chance to win an Olympic medal.
Photo AFP
- How long did you have to move away from that failure?
About a year. I spent my post-Olympic tour of the United States in an extremely depressed state. It seemed to me that by performing on the show, I was catastrophically losing time that should have been used for training. The 2007 season turned out to be crumpled and ended with the fact that I left Priscilla Hill, the coach who worked with me from the very first steps on the ice.
I remember you said, commenting on this step, that you became too close people with the coach to continue to work successfully together.
It really is. Priscilla was almost like a mother to me, and the more she cared about me, the more I allowed myself to be capricious. It began to seem to me that I knew much better how to train, that the coach was restricting my freedom. I listened half-heartedly, not really trying to follow the coach's instructions. In general, I went through all those stages of the relationship that at a certain age happen in teenagers with their own parents. At the same time, I understood: if I want to continue skating, I desperately need a person who can make me work. Actually, on summer camps I began to visit Tatyana Tarasova for this very reason, while still working with Priscilla.
- Why, then, was not Tarasova chosen as a permanent mentor, but Galina Zmievskaya?
I chose between four coaches, all of them Russian. To Tarasova I would have to leave for Moscow for a long time, to Rafael Harutyunyan - to California, Nikolai Morozov's group dangled all over America like a gypsy camp, which also did not suit me very much. I've always been too attached to my own family. I understood that if I left, I would certainly begin to suffer from loneliness, to tear myself back by any means. Zmievskaya worked in Simsbury, a two-hour drive from my house. In addition, two athletes trained with her at one time, whose skating I admired - Victor Petrenko and Oksana Baiul.
Galina seemed to me to be a rather tough coach - just the one that I needed. Those who clearly understand how and what needs to be done in order to achieve the goal.
- Was your work with a Russian coach very different from that accepted in the USA?
The main difference, perhaps, is that training is not limited to the time you spend on the ice. Galina could call me in the evening, ask what we have for dinner and remind me not to eat too much, because on morning workout you will need to jump quadruple. At the same time, she gladly invited me to her house on Fridays - she prepared vinaigrette, cutlets, Russian salad “Olivier”. It is an amazing combination: absolute coaching toughness and all-encompassing care. Zmievskaya could come home from training and spend several hours in front of the computer (despite the fact that she did not own it very well) to find for me on the Internet exactly those warm training leggings that I wanted to buy.
Overall, we worked very well together. Sometimes it seemed to me that at heart I was much more Russian than American.
* * *
- Has such a pronounced commitment to everything Russian ever created problems for you?
Sure. It started back when I was skating at Priscilla Hill. In 2001, I won the junior world championship and then for the first time saw Zhenya Plushenko compete at the adult world championship in Vancouver. In the short program, he skated a Bolero - in a velvet red suit trimmed with gold embroidery, with long hair, which was also cast in gold ... It was so beautiful that somehow I immediately realized that I wanted to skate that way. I began to try to work more expressively on the ice, especially with my hands, and pretty soon I heard from the coach that it would be nice if my skating was more “American”, not “ballet”.
The second incident took place in Turin. Tanya Totmianina gave me her sports jacket with the inscription “Russia” there for good luck. I didn't get out of it. I did it also because I really did not like the official uniform of the US national team. Between us, she was terrible.
I did not react to claims from our officials. Well, yes, I was lucky enough to become the champion of my country, I was given the opportunity to go to the Olympics, but this did not mean that a place in the team automatically makes me the property of the figure skating federation or olympic Committee, and that I have to do whatever they want there?
In Vancouver, things got even worse.
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- Was it somehow connected with the fact that you have a Russian coach?
Rather, with the fact that the main language we had in training was Russian - it was more convenient for Zmievskaya.
It is clear that the American leadership did not like this. To what extent their dislike for me came, I realized in my last training session before the short program, where not a single person from the US team came. I can't say that it hurt me a lot, but it was a good indicator.
- How tough was your confrontation with Evan Lysacek in those years?
We have always had a difficult relationship - since that very junior championshipwhere I was first and Evan was second. After that, the American press began to constantly try to push us together in every possible way. Perhaps the journalists just wanted to warm up the topic of rivalry - just like it was around Plushenko and Alexei Yagudin. Of course, it pressed, although I myself did not want to take any part in this. I know too well how hard the life of a skater is to allow myself to say nasty things to opponents. If I got into this mess, there is no need to mess with it.
* * *
One of the famous Russian swimming coaches once said about his student that she was too kind and sympathetic to fight for the championship. Maybe some of your failures are of the same nature?
Maybe. You know, when I was asked to comment on Plushenko's return to amateur sports before the Games in Sochi, I said that I did not know a single athlete who could fight as fiercely. I've never been like this. I liked to skate, I liked to win, I liked it when the program was executed without errors, but it never happened, as Tarasova likes to say, “to the breaking point”: I performed, fell and died. Well, yes, it worked a couple of times. But these were rather exceptions.
- What happened in Vancouver?
Even before the Games began, I clearly understood that I would not become a champion even if I skated both of my programs with the purest quadruple jumps.
- Why?
Because the American federation did not support me, but Evan. It was he who was the “face” of the federation, just as in Sochi Gracie Gold was such a “face” just because her last name is Gold. Lysacek was comfortable for everyone. He, unlike me, never argued with anyone, never tried to defend his point of view.
Another question is that my popularity in the USA was not much higher. I hosted my television show, I liked to think that in this way I raise the popularity of my sport, that I am in demand everywhere. By the way, I managed to prepare for those Games very well. And skated both programs perfectly. I think these were the best skates of my life. But he remained sixth. Lost even to those who skated with falls.
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- What feelings did Evan's victory at those Games evoke in you?
The paradox is that I have not seen the skating itself. Of all those who performed in our warm-up, I managed to watch only Plushenko, since he skated next to last - in front of him. I was sure that if Zhenya jumps a quadruple and does not make mistakes in the rest of the elements, he will win. It seemed to me that the judges simply cannot but take into account all of his previous merits.
I first saw Lysacek's performance after the Games, when it appeared on Youtube... I can say that Evan has never skated so well in his life. But there, in Vancouver, I was so upset that I lost, plus - that Zhenya lost, that ... In general, it was a very sad night. I almost immediately went backstage and burst into tears there. Too much accumulated that I could no longer keep inside. There, behind the curtain, Zmievskaya found me. She wrapped me in her mink coat, then, after doping control, took me to Olympic Village and brought McDonald's fries into the room. And the two of us mourned our fried potatoes Olympic Games.
- You believed that Plushenko would be able to perform in personal tournament at the Games in Sochi?
In the business of figure skating, words often don't matter at all. But Zhenya is a special case. If he promises something, you can be sure that he will do everything to keep this promise. Therefore, in fact, I had no doubts that he really intends to perform at the Games. He skated great in team competitions, I was just proud of him. But before the short program, it was already clear that it hurt him to move.
It's really awful when the body does not allow you to do what you want. But it was even worse - at least for me - to look at it from the outside. I really hope that at the next Games ... Do you know that he is going there? Perhaps, in this way, Zhenya just wants to redeem everything that happened in Sochi.
* * *
- How much of your life continues to be figure skating?
I train every day.
- Because you like it, or because you need it?
I have a lot of shows, and I would not want to realize one day that they only keep me in them because I was once a famous skater. It is very important for me not just to skate, but to skate well, to be in shape, to jump. So figure skating is still a huge part of my life. I also continue to work as an NBC commentator with Tara Lipinski. Before the Games in Sochi, we commented on certain competitions separately, and at the Games themselves it was decided not only to pair us up, but also to show us to the public - before that we were just “votes in a box”.
It quickly became clear that we both love trendy clothes, we adore extravagance. In general, day after day we tried to entertain the audience with all the means available to us, along the way talking about figure skating.
- Do you get tired of the excessive publicity of your life?
I have many opportunities to rest from this. In America, for example, I cannot afford to leave the house unkempt, unwashed, or casually dressed. And in Russia now for two weeks I have not crawled out of my favorite sweater. Sometimes I am recognized on the streets, but I cannot say that this is a cause for concern. No paparazzi, no one throws tantrums about what I tweeted or posted on Instagram.
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- Is Twitter and Instagram a business necessity, or a pleasure?
- Even when they try to teach you how to live?
I never had a problem with that. Parents explained to me early enough that such attempts are just a reflection of one or another person's own complexes. And that reacting to such things is at least stupid. I don’t react.
- Do I understand correctly that your parents are not Americans?
They were both born in the USA. But the grandparents were Norwegians. For America, this is a common story, but I like, waking up in the morning, remembering that I am a hereditary Viking.
- I also read that in addition to Russian, you speak French and Japanese.
French only. He taught him for three years at school. Americans usually choose Spanish for learning, which is more in demand in the United States, but French seemed more sophisticated to me, or something. Well, in Japanese I can only say a couple of phrases.
I always liked to teach foreign languages... I’m a country person, from a tiny town in Pennsylvania. The language made it possible to get out of this village framework, to look at life more broadly. I love my country, I am proud that I am an American, but at the same time I like traveling, coming to Japan, China, Russia, staying at the Metropol, taking a car with a chauffeur, trying unusual food ...
Russia, in my opinion, is a very tough country. And very strong.
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- Perhaps this is one of the few countries where a bunch of unpleasant things can be said to a person, don't you think?
What's the problem? The world is full of unpleasant things. The main thing is not to let these things take over your life. Personally, I generally prefer clear and understandable wording. "Johnny, your costume is terrible, and so is your hair!" "Johnny, you're fat, you need to lose weight urgently." My mother has always been a very direct person, and she taught me to call things by their proper names. For me, this is much more acceptable than phrases such as: "Should we eat only salad instead of dinner today?"
As for unpleasant things, hardly anyone is able to say more about my life than myself.
Not so long ago, a huge scandal erupted in tennis due to the fact that one of the officials called the Williams sisters brothers. Would it hurt you to hear “little Johnny” or something like that?
Not at all. I am quite an eccentric person, I live in a same-sex marriage and behave accordingly. Not so long ago, Katya Gerboldt and I were walking around Moscow, and suddenly I heard behind my back: “Look, look, a man in a fur coat! But he ... ”And what, should I react to this?
- And do you like wearing high heels?
Of course not - heels hurt my legs, and you know that as well as I do. But I am a representative of show business, a public person. For so many years I have been working like a damned figure skating, can not I really afford to play a little? At the same time, it would never occur to me to walk in heels all the time.
Johnny Weir is a three-time United States figure skating champion in singles. To fans of this sport, he is known primarily for his shocking costumes, artistry and a style different from other skaters.
Not only is his style so graceful and flexible that any girl will envy, so Johnny Weir also, contrary to most of his colleagues, jumps and rotates clockwise. The American Figure Skating Association and Skating Magazine have twice named him as Readers' Choice: Skater of the Year. However, this title is nothing compared to the fact that in 2010 the International Astronomical Union assigned the name of this athlete to the small planet 12413 Johnnyweir.
Once he admitted that, while riding, he goes into his own dream world. And in his world there are only clouds, sparkles and the smell of French perfume Chanel No. 5. His world is, perhaps, the same as himself: shiny, airy, fragrant. Weir's relationship with the world of sports developed in some magical way, which, however, is not at all surprising for such an airy-unpredictable-sudden person like Johnny.
John Garvin Weir was born on July 2, 1984 in the small American town of Coatesville, Pennsylvania. I became interested in figure skating at the age of eleven, which is rather late for those wishing to practice, and even more so, to devote their lives to this sport. Before that, little Johnny was quite successful in equestrian sports, participated in various competitions, in a word, he rode horses well. And in 1994, he decided overnight that it would be nice to try ice skating. The inspiration came to Weir after Oksana Baiul's performance, which the boy saw during the broadcast of the figure skating tournament at the Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. Inspired by the performance of the Ukrainian athlete, Johnny decided that mastering this beautiful sport was urgent. But the future champion did not have skates.
Savvy and resourcefulness are the main differences between children and adults. These are the very qualities that sometimes make a very young person successful and successful, and provide him with a bright life and a bright future. Neither a pragmatic mind, nor a rational approach sometimes cope with such difficult tasks as building your own happiness and creating inner harmony.
Agile Johnny decided to master jumping, training in the basement of his own house on roller skates. When young Weir received the long-awaited skates as a gift from his parents, the field behind the house, frozen in winter, became a training ground for him. So began the career of perhaps the most unusual skater of our time.
Horses, of course, had to be forgotten. The parents of the promising athlete could not pay for both equestrian sports and figure skating at the same time. Later Johnny had to not only leave his partner Jody Rudden and go to single skating, but also quit his studies at the university.
As it turned out, all the sacrifices were not made in vain. After just a week of training under the guidance of coach Priscilla Hill, Weir learned to jump the axel, which is considered the most difficult jump in figure skating.
The sports career of John Garvin Weir can be graphically depicted as a drawing for the paragraph "Harmonic vibrations" in the textbook "Physical Foundations of Mechanics". Victories gave way to defeats, successes - to failures, injuries - to recoveries; and the bronze medal of the world championship remains Johnny's highest achievement on the ice arena to date. However, Weir constantly strived to be not only an athlete, but also an actor. At the same time, being an artist is much more important for Weir than a figure skater. Yes, in sports he is ambitious, but at the same time he treats any injury and failure as an opportunity to take a sabbatical and rediscover himself. Which he did after the Olympic Games in Vancouver, where he became only sixth. Johnny missed the next season after the Olympics, spending it on writing his memoirs Welcome to My World and recording the single Dirty Love.
Weir is an avid Russophile. Johnny never tires of repeating that he admires and adores Russian culture and art. He studied with a teacher in order to learn to speak and read in Russian. From the age of five he is in love with Russia. He always carries with him a small collection of Pushkin's poems, revises the masterpiece of Soviet cinema "Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears", listens to songs performed by Alla Pugacheva, is not indifferent to the work of Sergei Lazarev. He loves pies with chicken, black caviar, and often discusses bags and fur coats with his elderly friends, as well as how to properly prepare Olivier salad.
Yes, the figure skater's friends are elderly Russian ladies. Why are they his best friends? Because Johnny, by his own admission, is an elderly Russian woman at heart. This "woman" worships Evgeny Plushenko, Irina Slutskaya, Svetlana Khorkina, collects Cheburashek and calls Moscow her favorite city, without being cunning at all. After all, it is unlikely that the cheater will be awarded the prize "For Love for Russia." Weir confirms his bright feeling for our country not only in conversations with journalists and fans, but also during performances.
Not only does the athlete try not to miss a single stage of the Grand Prix in Russia, but also wins the appreciation of the audience, performing to the romance "I will never forget you!" After all of the above, it is not hard to guess that John Weir trained under the guidance of Galina Zmievskaya, the former mentor of Oksana Baiul, who at one time became a guiding star for Weir.
Zmievskaya completely changed the skater's regime and image, his approach to training, and the style of skating, which many spectators, colleagues, judges and other specialists called feminine. However, not only his behavior on the ice, but also "unsportsmanlike" manners are very elegant and sophisticated. In figure skating, he loves shiny, sparkling, extravagant costumes, and in his free time from training and performances he is fond of clothing design: he makes sketches and patterns of outfits that only the same daredevil as Johnny himself can wear (they were dressed by Melissa Gregory, Denis Petukhov , and Weyr's muse - Oksana Baiul).
The American loves to demonstrate his beauty by participating in photo shoots for fashion magazines, the most famous of which was the one where Johnny stood in front of the camera lenses in a mini-skirt and graceful women's high-heeled shoes. That issue of BlackBook magazine instantly disappeared from store shelves and newsstands.
Such a versatile person: an athlete by profession, a model and designer in combination, a Russophile and who also speaks French and Japanese, must be different from others to the very end.
In December 2011, Johnny Weir married Viktor Voronov, an American lawyer of Russian origin. Despite the fact that Weir's gay sexual orientation has been so obvious for quite a long time, the athlete has thoroughly denied any rumors about it. In this case, most of the cruel and loving to criticize the earthly stars, the audience can be justified, given the famous photos in the BlackBook and the equally famous short program to the music of Camille Saint-Saens "Swan" - perhaps one of the most popular compositions used in the female ballet.
The shocking athlete and his chosen one tied the knot on New Year's Eve. The three-time US champion shared this good news with the general public on his twitter. “Finally married!” Weir was laconic, but definitely happy.
Young people met about five years ago in New York. Victor did not have the slightest idea about his new acquaintance, and after parting due to the forced departure of Voronov to Atlanta, the young people realized that, contrary to all existing norms, they were far from each other - beyond their control.
“Victor embodies everything that I was looking for in a person with whom I would like to always be close, - wrote Johnny in his microblog a few days after the magical New Year's Eve, - I am now married, I am very happy! Life in sin is over. "
Victor, like Johnny, does not hide his emotions, calling his chosen one the most amazing and wonderful person, and, claiming that next to him a serious lawyer will never be bored.
The only pity is that the unusual lovers did not have a magnificent celebration. Rumor has it that Johnny and Victor wanted to legitimize their relationship so badly that they did not waste time preparing for the ceremony, and this is not a one-day affair. To "live in sin" again would be sheer torment for such vulnerable natures. The solemn ceremony was attended only by the parents of those who took oaths of love and loyalty. Johnny's mom was crying. But not when her son spoke so touching words to Victor standing opposite him, about trust, devotion, wealth and poverty, health and illness. She cried when she heard from her son that he was a homosexual. Not because she was ashamed of him, she wanted everything to be like everyone else, she wanted grandchildren. Because she blamed herself. She believed that her gay son was her mistake.
The honeymoon, unlike the wedding ceremony, went by all the rules, the couple went to the Dominican Republic to enjoy the sea, sun and white sand. Perhaps, only in such places, you stop taking seriously various things, and maybe even everything. This is the principle that John Garvin Weir-Ravens lives by. Johnny thinks that taking anything too seriously is bad. Yes, the athlete admits that he is strange, but he loves to have fun, despite the fact that figure skating is an old sport in which tradition rules.
The most eccentric skater in history and America's main Russophile Johnny is not at all embarrassed by this. Although Weir announced the end of his professional career, he is not going to stop doing what he loves. An outlandish and flamboyant ex-athlete, he plans to perform in ice shows, and during the Olympics in Sochi will become a colleague of Russian tennis player Maria Sharapova. Flanked by the Russian beauty and recent Olympic figure skaters Tara Lipinski and Tanit Belbin, Johnny will serve as a commentator for NBC, the official broadcaster of the 2014 North American Games.
Johnny weir
Athlete Date of birth July 2 (Cancer) 1984 (35) Place of birth Coatswil Instagram @johnnygweir
Johnny Weir is an American skater. He took his first major award at the age of 16. He is also the youngest gold medalist in the United States Championship. The athlete calls himself a Russophile, he has a large collection of nesting dolls and Cheburashkas at home. Johnny is active social life and often advocates for the rights of sexual minorities.
Johnny Weir biography
Johnny Weir was born on July 2, 1984 in a small town in the United States of America. As a child, he was engaged in horse riding, he had his own personal pony. The boy became interested in figure skating only at the age of 11. It is considered very late for professional athletes, usually begin to train at 3-4 years old.
In 1994, he saw Oksana Baiul skating at the XVII Winter Olympics. This performance impressed him greatly and since then he was only interested in figure skating. He performed his first jumps in the basement of his house on roller skates. And when Johnny's parents bought real skates, he moved to a makeshift ice rink in his backyard.
His first professional trainer was Priscilla Hill. After a week of training, Johnny could already perform difficult jumps. At the beginning of his career, the athlete skated in pairs, but over time he decided that he wanted to go into single skating.
In 2001, Weir competes in and wins the World Junior Championships. But he had to miss the next season due to injury.
In 2004 Johnny competes in the US Championship and takes first place. Fans and judges appreciate his artistry. At the same time, he begins to take consultations from russian coach T. Tarasova. She helps him create programs for various competitions.
Over the next several seasons, Weir only managed to perform well with the short program. For her, he received the highest marks from the judges, but in the free program he made many mistakes.
In 2006, Johnny went to the Turin Olympics with the US team. The athlete took fifth place there. Then he was pursued by a series of unsuccessful performances at various championships, where he did not rise above fifth place.
In 2007, Vire decided to change his coach. He became a ward of Galina Zmievskaya. Under her leadership, the athlete increased his personal record by 6 points, took gold medal at the "Cup of Russia" and bronze at the US Championship.
Johnny Weir's personal life
Johnny is fond of design. He himself designed costumes for his performances and for his colleagues. Weir is a very popular personality in the United States of America. So in 2009 the premiere of the documentary took place, in which he was the main character. And in 2010, a television series was even shot about the skater.
In 2011, Johnny made an official statement about his non-traditional sexual orientation, and at the end of the same year he married Viktor Voronov, a native of Russia.
Weir is a great lover of Russia and its culture. He independently learned Russian, learned to read and write in it, says that Moscow is his favorite city. Also in 2007 he received the prize "For the love of Russia", which he was awarded at the "Ice show of the two capitals".