花样滑冰冠军约翰尼·威尔访谈

Three-time figure skating champion Johnny Weir is out with a new book that is incredibly personal and shows you a new side of the sometime controversial star. I had a chance to sit down with Johnny Weir. Take a look.

Congratulations on your new book-- “Welcome to My World”. Take us into your world a little bit. What made you decide to write this book?

You know, I have a lot of stories to tell and my persona to the masses is this crazy flamboyant diva ice skater and that’s what a lot of people think of me. With the cover of the book, pink, and high heels and a disco ball, I wanted to, to kind of play with what people think of me but the actual story is very pure and I’m from a very small town of Pennsylvania. I wanted bigger matter things and I worked very hard to achieve everything that I’ve achieved. I’m a three-time national champion, world medalist, two-time Olympian. And I do work hard and sacrifice a lot to get there, so in somewhere I want my story to be heard and known and not just told through newspapers, through television anchors and things. I wanna, really tell my story from my perspective.

And also you do come out about being gay in this book for the first time. What made you decide to do that?

You know, I’ve never lived in. I’ve never, I’ve never remembered a moment when I slept in my closet with my coats and my shoes, you know, rest my head on my jeans. I’ve never lived in a closet. And in my own psyche, I don’t think it’s important. I wasn’t born something else and then decided to be gay. I was born gay. I was born white. I was born male. And I don’t celebrate what I was born with. I tried to make something of myself and become an Olympian, become a great artist, become, you know, a great figure skater and a great athlete and those are the things I focus on. But a lot of, the sort of tabloid culture that we live in once to focus on the needy gradient, things that, you know, aren't accepted by everyone, and things that could be a little controversial, but for me, being gay’s being, is the same as being white. It's just something that I was born with. So I never make a big stink about it.

Right, right. And yet you grew up in a small town in Pennsylvania, as you said, did you ever find it difficult fitting in?

My town in Pennsylvania was very very close in there and everyone knew everyone. So I never really felt it until I moved to pursue figure skating to Delaware. And I’d be walking down the halls in school and somebody called me a faggot or you know lots of other gay slurs.

Was that shocking to you?

I grew up in a really small town in Pennsylvania where was completely white and completely Christian. So when I went to school in Delaware, I was shocked to see so many African-American people and middle-eastern people and Asian people and Jewish people. I mean, the whole world was new to me. And you know, getting called names when I was walking down the hall way, it didn’t hurt me. I didn’t wanna cry. It made me strong and say ok, I will be better than all of you people. And that’s, that’s the inspiration that I got from that, and I didn’t let myself have a moment to be shocked and sad about it.

Are we going to see you in the 2014 Olympics?

I really hope so. Russian’s some place that’s so special to me and has inspired me so much. My coach’s from there, I speak the language. I go there maybe four or five months out of the year.

You speak Russian?

I speak Russian. Yeah, and it’s very special, so having a Winter Olympics in Russia is kind of magical and a dream, and while I’m still a skater, I’m not skating at the top level right now, I took a year off from competition, and if I can get myself back into competitive shape and really get my head back into it.

We are now into 2011, so you still have several years. At what point would you have to say "All right, all these other distractions aside, I’m gonna to do the Olympics in 14. I've got to just train”?

The absolute latest I would say is 2012.

Ok.

Absolutely the latest, but the sooner, the better.

Right.

I’m gonna be back on the ice training morsel in March and April. And we'll see where I am by the middle of the summer, if I'm prepared and ready, maybe I’ll compete this year.

Now you obviously are in such a fashionable fair, a lot of people follow what you wear, do you have any designs?

I’m working hard, I mean, with everything else’s been happening in my life right now, with, with the book…