Skip to content
Sports
Link copied to clipboard

Late night with Weir

Coatesville native Johnny Weir returns to the Olympic stage with the men's short program tonight at the Pacific Coliseum.

But if you want to watch Weir and fellow Americans Evan Lysacek and Jeremy Abbott, you are going to have to hang deep into NBC's coverage, and this time it is not NBC's fault.

Of the 30 skaters competiting, Weir drew No. 25, Lysacek is 28th and Abbott is 29th.

The Americans will be sandwiched by Belgium's Kevin van der Perren (26th), Tomas Verner, of the Czech Republic (27th) and Michal Brezina, of the Czech Republic (30th).

The free program is Thursday night.

Weir is 25, amid his own comeback, and this is likely his last chance to prove that. A disappointing fifth in Turin, his Olympic performance there was a mess of missed buses and self-inflicted errors, both on ice and off. If he wasn't intimidated, it sure looked that way.

Has he grown out of that guy? Or will be remembered more for what he said than what he did? We'll have a pretty good clue after tonight.

"People are very cynical when they are talking about the comebacks and returns of these great stars," he said. "If you can compete in an Olympics once, you are blessed beyond belief. If you can do it two or three times, what more do you need?"