For Different Reasons, Lysacek, Weir, Rule Over Olympic Ice
REIGN ON ME
For Different Reasons, Lysacek, Weir, Rule Over Olympic Ice
THEY WERE THE KING AND QUEEN OF THE ICE RINK.
The King: talk, dark and handsome Evan Lysacek, originally from Illinois, who performed his long program with a steely and disciplined determination to dominate.
The Queen: the glittery, fluid and feminine Johnny Weir, skating the "the best he's ever been -- ever,'' according to NBC's Olympics skating commentator Scott Hamilton.
And even though he mesmerized, skated his winningest, it suspiciously wasn't enough for the Pennsylvania native to take home a medal.
The long program at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics upended Russia's 18-year reign over the men's figure skating contest.
With his spot-on performance, Lysacek upstaged the strutting Yevgeny Plushenko who believed the gold medalist would need to execute a quad jump.
"This is the greatest night of my life,'' a beaming Lysacek told an NBC reporter shortly after collecting his prize. "I'll never forget it."
There was no NBC after-comment from Weir; nothing but a last shot of him wearing a crown of roses.
For all his flamboyance, Weir delivered a stunning performance Thursday night that punctuated the point he made earlier in the week: he is indeed an athlete. But like another royal figure who dared to steal the spotlight, Weir's audacity to shine both on and off the ice may have cost him.
Read "We Love You, We Hate You, Johnny Weir" here.
Read "It's Official: Johnny Weir's A Little Monster" here.
Tags: Buzz
Comments
What the olympic judges did last night was tell everyone that if your
openly gay and HONEST you have no chance in figure skating… they sent a message
….why would anyone in their right mind put their child in this sport,
spend hundreds of thousands of dollars training them and dedicate their
life to it when if you happen to be gay and tell the truth you will not win no matter
what.
Can anyone please explain to the public who watched the mens figure
skating how Johnny Weir was scored lower than:
* DAISUKE TAKAHASHI (Japan, Bronze Medal) Takahashi fell on his first
jump in the program, a quad attempt, and landed squarely on his ass. I
mean that literally. He slid on his ass for what seemed like an
eternity, got up, and finished a program that otherwise had the same
degree of difficulty as Weir. His scores were so inflated that NBC
cameras actually caught him reacting with shock, not entirely pleasant,
that he had scored as highly as he did despite a bad fall and other
errors.
* STEPHANE LAMBIEL (Switzerland, 4th Place) Lambiel bobbled nearly
every landing and mailed in all his other elements. The crowd seemed to
drift off into sleep as Lambiel nearly missed jumps, stumbled from one
element to another, and skated in slow motion.
* PATRICK CHAN (Canada, 5th Place) In addition to a fall, Chan’s
performance was all over the place. It was unfocused, sloppy, and he
couldn’t seem to hit anything right. The commentators were full of
excuses for Chan: he’s injured, he changed coaches, he’s too young. He
wasn’t too young, however, when he won Silver in the World
Championships last March.
Ridiculous.
Why would anyone follow the figure skating sport or become involved
when performance is not rewarded but image and behind the scenes deals
are.
THis is why the sport will never build a large fan base..the judging is corrupt and the best performance of the night doesNOT win.
The only good thing is I am now a JOHNNY WEIR fan for his honesty courage and principles. There are not many people in the world that stand by their convictions to eliminate predjudice as Johnny Weir has. YOUR A HERO IN MY BOOK.
Posted by: edo | February 19, 2010 10:21 PM
Johnny weir was definitely robbed by the judges. He performed with feeling and emotion. His technique was good, he didn't fall or stumble in his jumps. And yet those blind ignorance judges placed him sixth?! I think he deserves the bronze medal. All the skaters that placed above him all fell during their jumps!
Posted by: Quantum | February 19, 2010 01:04 AM