Weir wins only U.S.
medal at Worlds

Johnny Weir, won the Bronze Medal at the 2008 World Championships. Jeffrey Buttle of Canada won gold and Brian Joubert of France won silver.

March 22, 2008

Three-time U.S. Champion Johnny Weir won the Bronze medal at the 2008 World Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden, bringing home the only U.S. medal of the event.

Skating to “Love is War” by Yoav Gordon, Weir produced two triple Axels, two triple Lutzes, a triple Salchow, loop and flip as well as strong spins, two of which were graded a level four. However, his opening quadruple toeloop was underrotated and downgraded.

Weir picked up 141.05 points (67.21/73.84) for this performance and accumulated 221.84 points to win his first World medal.

“I’m so excited. It was not my strongest performance, but I am just proud for myself and for my coaches and I am proud to bring back the only medal for the USA”, the 23-year-old Weir said. “I was a little tired toward the end and I had much nervous energy. When I was going into my starting position, my legs were still shaking. Two years ago, I definitely would have fallen apart. I tried to be as spectacular as possible. (At the end) I was very relieved as the season has been difficult and there was a lot of pressure on me”, he explained.

Jeffrey Buttle of Canada took home the Gold and France's Brian Joubert won the Silver Medal.

In the short program, performing to “Yunona and Avos”, Weir nailed a triple Lutz-triple toe combination, a triple Axel and a triple flip. His jumps were smooth and effortless, and he scored a season best of 80.79 points (42.64/38.15).

“I felt fantastic on the ice today. The audience helped me through this performance and I felt like it was a regular run-through I did everything I am trained to do. I've been happy to be in Sweden for such a long time because I feel that I'm comfortable here, I am not rushed," Weir said after his short program.

"The short program came at the perfect time, just when I'm getting at the point when I'm a little bit too comfortable. With the long program tomorrow I'm excited to get that over with”, Weir said.