Weir hopes 2010 is finally his year
CHICAGO -- Johnny Weir has a reality show coming this winter. Of course he does.
If reality TV hadn't existed, they would have had to invent it for Weir. World champion Evan Lysacek said the figure skating camera "has changed from the ladies to the men," which is convenient because Johnny has enough personality for his own channel.
Consider his appearance Friday at the Olympic summit in Chicago between athletes and the media. He wore gold loafers, metallic olive pants and a necklace that reflects virtually every religion in the world -- "I feel like I need to be protected on all fronts; somebody always has to have my back."
He talked about baking banana bread and champagne mornings. He discussed his upcoming reality show (tentatively called "Johnny Be Good") on the Sundance Channel and his love of Russia. He mentioned he'll wear a corset and a tassel in his short program. And he announced his long routine is called "Fallen Angel" because "we think it's a very good representation of my career to this point."
Everything will be going fine, Weir said, "But as soon as I make one mistake, it's like it flips on me. And it's happened my whole career. I feel in many ways that it embodies the spirit of the fallen angel. I can be way up here one second and be all the way down in hell the next."
He certainly can. Weir was in position for a silver medal at the 2006 Olympics heading into the long program, but missed his bus, showed up late and said he didn't "feel my aura" after skating a disappointing performance that left him off the podium. He fared worse at last year's U.S. championships when he fell, singled a couple of triple jumps and finished such a disappointing fifth that he considered quitting the sport.
"After the national championships, it was a real struggle for me to actually want to skate anymore," Weir said. "I definitely quit for a month and a half. I didn't want to be a part of this world anymore, I didn't want to be a figure skater anymore. And then my mom called me one day and I was really upset, I had been crying. I had woken up with champagne that morning and it was just a bad day.
"I said, 'Mom, I can't handle this anymore, I don't want it, I don't love it.' And she said, 'If you quit, you're going to regret this. You're going to be my age one day and you're going to regret every second you spent sitting here feeling sorry for yourself when you have one more legitimate chance to make an Olympic medal a reality.' And she said, 'You have to use it.'"
So he got back on the ice, practiced hard and is poised to join what could be one of America's best men's figure skating contingents in the Olympics.
"I haven't worked this hard and this long to let myself crumble and just disappear in the skating world," he said. "So I dug deep, I found the strength to go back in the rink every day, to start pushing myself, to start jumping, and slowly and surely, I started to get better and now I feel I'm in the best shape of my life. I have about three more pounds to lose -- according to my coaches -- and then I'll be ready. I'm so happy."
He said Vancouver will be his last chance to win the Olympic medal he's dreamed about. Asked why he couldn't compete in 2014 at Sochi, Russia, he said he could but wouldn't have a serious chance to win a medal. Instead, he has a plan for another TV appearance that year.
"I would like to go to Sochi as the reigning Olympic champion who's talking for television in three different languages."
Jim Caple is a senior writer for ESPN.com. He can be reached here. His Web site is at jimcaple.net.
