Skater of the Decade: Johnny Weir

As we say good night to the decade without a name, I thought it would be fun to review some of the skaters that have been prominent players on the competitive landscape over the past 10 years. Let's start with Johnny Weir.

Why start with Johnny? Well, has any other skater had both a movie made about them and inspired a character in a hit movie? Johnny Weir has done both with the documentary, "Pop Star On Ice" and the figure skating spoof starring John Heder and Will Ferrell, "Blades of Glory."

Johnny also personally inspired me while I was working my first job and still coaching group lessons on the weekends. I had figured that since I was out of college my skating days were numbered. Then I watched this teenager on the Nationals broadcast at the beginning of the century who mesmerized me with his spins. Whilst sitting the in Kiss'N'Cry after his skate, Terry Gannon and Dick Button chatted about how he started skating when he was 12 and now just fa few years later he was skating a Nationals. Not Junior Nationals, not skating in the novice or junior level, but at the senior level on friggin' TV!

My 22 year-old self decided to get off the couch. I went to the last hour of the public ice that evening and taught myself the variation on the sit spin he did. That involved placing the free foot over the bent skating knee while in the sit position and then stretching the arms down to the skating foot. My bottom ended up getting a bit icy before I figured it out and got the balance over my skating foot correctly.

After debuting on the senior level, he won the first of three National titles in 2004. In each victory he showed his individuality, culminating in skating to The Swan AS a swan with a glove named Camille after the composer, Camille Saint-Saens in Torino. His comments kept the press interested, especially comparing his performance to a shot of coke and vodka... and not the bubbly type of coke.

He changed coaches a year after the Olympics. His seasons have been up and down since Torino, but he managed a bronze medal at worlds in 2008 giving the US 3 slots to compete at Worlds the following year. He's had a successful run during the Grand Prix this fall making him a strong player in the upcoming US Nationals and Vancouver Games.

Johnny Weir, definitely one of the skaters who defined this decade of competitive elite skating.