The World Competes

Johnny Weir is a controversial skater. Although he’s not really my favorite skater (he’s a little too “feminine” as a male skater for my tastes), perhaps he’s getting a little too much heat for being who he is.

Particularly upsetting is how animal rights activists have sent Weir death threats because they don’t like how he used fur on one of his costumes. What is more important, animals or people? Of course, some people would say animals, but I have to disagree.

In this interview with Johnny Weir on the George Lopez show, Weir seems to imply that the reason why he did not get a medal was because the judges wanted diversity on the medal stand, and Evan Lysacek was already guaranteed a medal. That’s not really keeping history in mind. In 2002, two Russians took the top spots; in 1956, all three top spots wen to the US; Norway took silver and bronze in 1920, and in 1908, all three top spots went to Sweden. In women’s skating, the US had two medals in 2002, took the top two spots in 1998, and received two medals in 1992; in 1920, Sweden took the top two spots; in 1908, Great Britain won two medals. This may not be a large amount of years when one country took two places on the podium, but if it truly was political, Weir would have come in fourth, not sixth.

Weir was turned down from Stars on Ice because he was not “family friendly” enough. While his controversial life outside of the ice really doesn’t necessarily translate to how he would skate on tour, I guess they have the right to choose who they want to feature or not.

Johnny Weir will be on the George Lopez show tomorrow, so if you are interested in seeing him, you might want to watch. In the meantime, here’s a video of him skating to Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face”.