Johnny Weir officially announced his retirement from figure skating and will now be joining NBC as an analyst for the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi.
The skater, who is known for his outlandish figure skating outfits, announced the news on TODAY on Wednesday. He will offer commentary on events on all the various platforms NBC airs the Olympics on.
Weir will be joined by Olympic gold medalist Tara Lipinski and the two of them will be a part of a half hour program called The Olympic Zone during the broadcasts.
In addition to talking about his new position, Weir also voiced his opinion on the call for a boycott.
Weir has been vocal about not calling for a boycott since he feels it takes away from the athletes work. “I’m a gay American. I’ve married into a Russian family. I’ve been a longtime supporter of Russia, the culture, the country, the language, everything about Russia.”
The skater added, “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.”
According to Entertainment Weekly, Weir offered the thought, “For all the Olympians that worked so hard, a boycott is just the worst thing that you could do to all these young people.”
Today notes that Weir has been a professional figure skater for 16 years. From 2004-2006, he won consecutive U.S. titles. Weird took fifth and sixth in the 2006 and 2010 Winter Olympics.
image: Wikimedia Commons
