The Olympic Fiasco That Turned Johnny Weir into Johnny Weird

By Carol Johnson

Lots of Americans were hoping for that we might just be able to bring home an unexpected medal from the men’s figure skating competition. Johnny Weir’s stunning performance in his short program had bumped him up to second place, even with the swan outfit. And suddenly all eyes were on him to see if his long program could continue the excitement. Most people, in planning for the biggest night of their life, would pay attention to every single detail and take every single precaution necessary to ensure that the night would be a success. But Johnny Weir’s priorities are evidently different from most people’s. As a result, Evgeni Plushenko grabbed the gold, and Weir grabbed a flight home.

From the moment Weir arrived in Turin, there was nothing that suited him. The bed was too hard for him, there was dust on the floor of his room, and there was no room service. He wanted a hotel room and a limo to drive him everywhere, like the self-proclaimed "princessy" star he believes himself to be, but all he got was a twin bed and a bus schedule. One thing he did get, though, was media exposure. With Michelle Kwan out of the running and Weir’s surprising rise to second place after his short program, he was on NBC just about every time the television was on.

On the most important day of his life, Weir walked out of the village to the bus stop, where he expected the bus to be waiting for him, with less than two hours before he was scheduled to skate. But the Italian organizers had changed the schedule, so the buses were running every half hour instead of every 10 minutes. "It was never brought to my attention that it would be changed," Weir said. "I guess it’s my fault because I didn’t bother to ask." So instead, he wandered around in the cold looking for a car, and after about 20 minutes he was able to find someone to drive him to the arena.

As a result of being late and not having enough time to warm up after missing the bus, Weir had to change his planned performance. He skated a tentative program, giving up on his plans to try his first-ever quad in competition. He two-footed a triple axel, had a shaky landing on a triple lutz, and was obviously too distracted during the whole program to give a good performance. His program was shaky from the beginning. By the time he had finished, everyone knew that America’s hopes for bringing home the gold were also over. "I was terrified today," Weir said. "I wasn’t comfortable and that’s why I was so scared." As soon as his bad numbers popped upon the scoreboard, Weir stormed out of the results area, explaining to reporters later, "I didn’t feel my aura. I was black inside."

Weir talked about being mad at himself for his poor performance, but his claims of disappointment were as unconvincing as his performance. He had no problem playing to the media and said that he would be back in four years to try again. When reporters asked him what he would take from the Olympics, his ready answer was that he had learned he can compete on a big stage, and that he definitely wants to stay in a hotel.

Skaters of Johnny Weir’s caliber don’t come along every day, and Weir seems to take pleasure in standing out from the crowd in as many ways as possible. I like things to be the way I like them to be," he told one interviewer. "And if that's diva, then I'm sorry for that. But I don't think that people should go through life having to sacrifice things that they want just to make a good article, or make a good piece on television—or to do a good paper in school, even. You have to stick to your own agenda, and do what you want, that'll make you happy. And often times, that conflicts with what other people want." The same interview contained another interesting diatribe. "Going to an Olympic Games is just exciting to me. There's no extra pressure. There's no big feeling that I need to be America's main Olympic contender in the men's event. There's nothing like that. I want to go, have a good time, see some aerial skiing and the gold-medal hockey game, and just chill and really revel in the fact that, wow, I made it to an Olympic Games. I'm practically part Amish, and I made it to an Olympic Games. That in itself is an achievement."

Evidently Weir’s years of training that led him to the opportunity to compete in the Olympic men’s figure skating competition had more to do with doing what he wanted, making himself happy, than it did with representing his country. Among the many soundbites from the now-infamous Johnny Weird was his comment that "I feel like I am being a good ambassador for the sport." Someone should send him a dictionary so he can look up the word.