Popnography
Johnny Weir Retires From Professional Figure Skating
But you won't forget the Olympic star — he'll be an NBC Expert Analyst at the Winter Games
October 23 2013 5:20 PM EST
February 05 2015 9:27 PM EST
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Bye bye Johnny Weir! We're sure going to miss your killer axels and Poker Face (3:28 might be the best move on ice in quite some time).
The 29-year-old Olympic skater announced on Today that he'll be retiring from competitive ice skating. But fear not: you'll still hear Weir at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. He'll join NBC Sports as an "Expert Analyst" on the Olympic figure skating competitions and give commentary on all NBC platforms at the Games.
We're not too surprised Weir is headed overseas. The athlete's been quite vocal about his anti-boycott stance concerning the Olympics and Russia's anti-gay laws. He touched on the controversy again after his announcement, rejecting the idea of a boycott:
"I'm a gay American," Weir said. "I've married into a Russian family. I've been a longtime supporter of Russia, the culture, the country, the language, everything about Russia. While this law is a terrible thing that you can't be gay publicly in Russia, I plan to be there in full support of our brothers and sisters there and not be afraid. If I get arrested, I get arrested; if not, great, but our presence is needed... For all the Olympians that worked so hard, a boycott is just the worst thing that you could do to all these young people."
Watch Weir announce his retirement below:
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