Ice skating champion Johnny Weir made headlines in December 2011 when he married boyfriend Victor Voronov. Philadelphia's NBC station caught up with him to talk weddings, children and the Winter Olympics.
Originally from Lancaster, Penn., Weir started skating at the age of 12. Nowadays, his Russian coach Galina Zmievskaya helps Weir prepare for the 2014 Olympics in Russia.
Weir’s been to the Olympics twice already and is a three-time national champion. But it’s Weir’s activities when he’s off the ice that catch much of the media’s attention.
He recently recorded a song, wrote a memoir, starred in his own reality show and was the face of MAC Cosmetics, and he's now designing a line of dresses.
However, the attention Weir attracts is not always positive. Some in the gay community are not happy about the way he represents them.
“People that have an issue with me for all the wrong reasons — my flamboyance, my over-the-top gayness, as they would say,” says Weir.
But he doesn’t take it personally.
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“It’s usually because they have something going on inside themselves.”
If Weir is “over-the-top,” his new husband Voronov is anything but. An attorney, Voronov describes the couple’s differences as yin and yang. “We complement each other,” he says, “in ways that most relationships do.”
The most well-known athlete to marry someone of the same sex, Weir wed Voronov in a civil ceremony in New York City. Now the couple is planning on having a big, possibly Jewish, wedding.
“Most likely I’d convert to Judaism,” Weir says on his future with Victor and possibly raising children.
Decked out in fur and heels, Weir, 27, announced in a recent press conference he’ll be training for the 2014 Olympics and continues to train every day.
“I’m just honored doing exactly what I’m supposed to do," Weir says. “And through my marriage, I think Victor and I will inspire a lot of people.”
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