Looking shocked and saddened, Johnny Weir removed the last bit of makeup on his face after his short program Friday at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, let it sink in.
Johnny Weir relaxes after some skating
A three-axis can not have cost him a place on the U.S. team for the world championships in March. Weir, last year the bronze medalist in the world, has competed in this event over the past six years.
“I try not to mourn,” he said, clutching a wet tissue on her left hand.
Entering the free skate Sunday, Weir is in seventh place, behind some of the public skating is not likely to know, like Parker Pennington, and Brandon Mroz Curran Oi.
With three skaters for the men going to the World Championships, which suddenly found themselves in the same situation as the U.S. women to the Olympics in Vancouver, about a year away: Who will skate American stars in the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, where the sport will be one of the most watched?
“As a fan of figure skating, there are some that in a competition, and I think it is very healthy for the sport,” Ron Hershberger, the U.S. figure skating president, said on Friday. “Who will rise to the occasion? Not just this year, next year, too, when we take the team.”
Proceedings in the world of three men who previously determined how many points it receives from the United States in the case of men in the Olympics. Now, men seem to have two strong favorites for the world. Jeremy Abbott, the lead after the short program, is taking a year off. Evan Lysacek, twice national champion and twice world bronze medalist, is in the second.
The spots in the women’s team, however, are much more at stake. They have two positions at the world championships after a lackluster performance in last year’s event. That will pressure on skaters to succeed in a place that none of them have been before.
Hershberger, but do not worry. He said the women’s side was in the flow, since some of the best competitors in the women were young and just finding their footing on the elite level.
Not even an American woman last month qualified for the Grand Prix final. Women also have failed to win a medal at the world championships the past two years, after winning at least one in the previous 12.
But give them time to shine, Hershberger said.
“It means you have to start the selection process again,” he said of a skater look to replace superstars and spokesmen for the sport, like Michelle Kwan.
The new star could be detected at any time, he said, noting that Alissa Czisny, who won the women’s title Saturday night, received a score of 65.75 in Thursday’s short program, which would be internationally competitive.
The talents of top-level skaters in the United States has never been more balanced, he added, saying the highlights are not only for women but also men of the case, and the ice dancing at the pairs.
“We want the medal,” said the next Olympics. “But it is the strength of its long-term program.”
Czisny, 21, is hoping to head to Vancouver, a journey that could have on its performance in next year’s national championships, which double as the Olympic trials.
Shep Goldberg, a former agent of the skaters, and gymnasts, said the United States would not be in Vancouver, without a female skater who had been anointed the next big thing. Over the next 12 months, that person will naturally emerge from the pack, as one always seems he said.
But it is not likely to be the next skater Kwan, who represents Goldberg.
Kwan, who won eight national championships in a row, had the talent, but the bubbly personality that made her the perfect face of the sport.
“I could not ever be another Michelle Kwan, but definitely will be someone who has the skating and the ability to light up a room,” he said before pausing. “But Michelle has not yet ruled out a return, you know,” he said. “She’s back to intense training. If that could lead to the Games in Vancouver, nobody knows.”