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Johnny WeirContinued: America's Olympic Strong Shot Puts Things Into Perspective- Continued from P. 1 -
Johnny: I watched Evgeni Plushenko skate at Cup of Russia while I was still sitting in the Kiss-and-Cry, he came on right after me. He is the biggest rock star skater I have ever seen. He lets it all hangs out and just doesn't care. What a year he's had – injuries, surgeries, getting married – and still he blows everybody's socks off. Plushenko is really someone to admire and I'm proud to skate in the same company as him. He's phenomenal, he's the best, and no one yet can touch him. Kathleen: What are your thoughts on Pairs? Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin are considered the 'lock' for the pairs gold medal, especially since Shen & Zhao have been out of commission. Johnny: I simply love both of Tatiana's and Max's programs. They perform them beautifully and look 100% like Olympic Champions. I also like that German pairs team that just came on the scene – the one with the black guy. She's a little orange (laughs) up close, but a beautiful skater. Kathleen: Switching to ice dance, it's no surprise that it's looking almost certain that Tanith Belbin will get her citizenship status resolved before Torino. How do you feel about Belbin & Agosto being allowed to compete at the Olympics? Johnny: It's cool that the vote was passed in her favor, I'm really happy for Tanith. I think that Tatiana Navka and Roman Kostomarov will probably win though. They are good skaters and good performers that can hide any flaws that may exist and look like a million bucks. Even when they're not in shape they look amazing and when they are in top season form they look even better. They definitely have that 'it' factor. I like Tanith and the excitement and buzz it's creating for dance that they might compete, but at the same time once you make exceptions to 'open doors' – especially in skating – it doesn't sit well with me. But it's great for them, and they're a strong, young team. I also really like the other US team of Melissa Gregory & Denis Petukhov, and they've skated well too. Overall I think it's a good thing for Tanith and Ben, but there are bad things that go along with it. Kathleen: Russia only gets to send two men to the Olympics this time around. Who do you think deserves to make the trip with Plushenko? Johnny: First off, I have to say that I really like Sergei Dobrin. Secondly, I was very happy with Andrei Griazev's performance at Cup of China and I think he's awesome. He's like a brother to me as we spent a lot of time training together under Tatiana Tarasova. He didn't do too well in the short at Cup of China, but I think Tatiana really kicked his butt before the free skate and he showed what he can do. I think Andrei is the complete opposite of what I am. He's like Joubert, who is also the opposite of me, in that they are very strong, muscular skaters. I'd also put Michael Weiss and the Chinese guys into that category. I respect their toughness. I'm more 'light and gentle artistic' while Andrei is full on 'power artistic.' He reminds me of Alexei (Yagudin) in that power sense. I love polar opposites, the contrasts and differences. Andrei is a great jumper but stylistically we're very different. If we could skate to the same piece of music the two programs would be completely different. I appreciate his contribution to the sport. Kathleen: Maybe I've read Griazev wrong. His incredible practice sessions the summer of 2004, after he was crowned the world junior champion, had me peg him as a strong Olympic contender. Thus far, he has been unable to really put it all together. What's the problem? Johnny: He might just need more time on the senior circuit. It's hard to adjust from the junior level, where he was very successful, to the senior. I really didn't adjust that well either. But I think there's a strong pressure when you're one of the leading contenders on the Russian team to try and live up to the Plushenko-Yagudin-Abt era. Those days are gone, and Russia is looking for their next big star to take over when Plushenko retires. The pressure has been on Andrei (Griazev) to be that next star. It's so hard to go from obscure junior Grand Prix events where you're the winner to a senior event and suddenly be surrounded by the world's best. Kathleen: So who have you been disappointed in this season? Johnny: I'm very, very disappointed with the US girls. There have been so many withdrawals and injuries, etc. that they need to just get out there and skate. Stop talking about it and get out there and do it!Even Michelle (Kwan) should have been out there earlier, it would have been great to see her at a Grand Prix event. I know she was injured, I understand she's on the comeback trail, and I would say she's definitely looking like she wants it – to compete and to win. Sasha Cohen came back very strong at Trophee Eric Bompard, although she was beaten by Mao Asada, and she also looked in good form at the Marshall's event in Boston. I wish we cold have seen more of our ladies this season. Alissa Czisny has really had a break-out season, but she hasn't been able to stand up to the likes of Irina Slutskaya or the Japanese ladies. What I hope is that all of our top ladies have strong comebacks at US Nationals and are full of fire. It's becoming a youngster's game, and there are so many strong kids coming into the Grand Prix circuit. This season was just my third on the Grand Prix, and at only age 21 I was feeling (laughs) a bit of the old man. Kathleen: You haven't been thrilled with the new judging system. Johnny: Yeah, I'm disappointed in the judging too. Take Cohen versus Asada at the French Grand Prix event: Sasha's component scores were lower than Mao Asada's and that's just horrifically wrong – just wrong, wrong, wrong. But, there's nothing the skaters can do and it's a frustrating situation. There's a sense that we're still getting pre-placed by the judges based on where they feel we should be due to a prior performance, being their favorite, having a strong reputation, whatever. Jeffrey Buttle has won without even landing a triple Axel this season, so I'd say there's plenty to be disappointed in. I keep bitching about the new system, and I'm doing all that I can, but if you work hard and skate well you really want to see a payoff. You certainly don't want to be fourth or fifth just because you're from the wrong country, or the wrong age, or any number of reasons. Code of Points has taken the beauty out of the sport and we're no longer seeing visually overwhelming performances because there's just too much stuff to cram in. Might as well put a stopwatch and a referee out there on the ice and let us fight each other and call it a day. Kathleen: Surely there must be some pluses? No system can be 100% bad. Johnny: I do think we are all better skaters because of it, and I know I'm in better shape because of it. The system pushes us hard, very hard. Suddenly you have to do long, complicated spins at the end of a program, spread the jumps out, jam in all of this footwork – it is exhausting. What I miss most about the former 6.0 system is the release of feeling free. I miss the option that if I leave an element out, or do this or don't do that, it's still okay – it's recoverable. We had a freedom that we were under our own control. Now I feel that the points are in control with some textbook dictating my every move, my every step. |
Kathleen: If it's not Johnny Weir on the top of the Torino Olympic podium, which man should it be?