In December, Weir returned to his roots when he paid a visit to Quarryville Elementary School, where he was a student in the late 1980s.

He visited former teachers, donated books to the school’s library and told students, “You can do anything, even when you start out in a town that has buggies and horses. I grew up and went to school here, and I wanted to skate in the Olympics — and I did. Anything’s possible.”

Weir lived with his family in southern Lancaster County for 10 years. The Weirs still have friends and family here, including Johnny’s grandparents Robert and Marcella Moore of Willow Street and his aunt and uncle Diane and Joel Neff of Quarryville.

Weir started his career at age 12, practicing moves on roller skates around his home after moving to Coatesville.

In 1996, the Weir family moved to Newark, Del., to be with Johnny as he trained with skating coach Priscilla Hill.

Weir’s first major victory came in 2001, at age 16, when he won the World Junior Championships.

The 2003-04 season was the turning point for Weir, who qualified for the U.S. Figure Skating Championships by winning the regional and sectional championships.

Over the past several years, Weir has had an ongoing rivalry with figure skater Evan Lysacek. Critics say Weir is at his best at nationals, always finding a way to wind up on the top of the podium. But Lysacek has the edge internationally, winning medals at the last two world championships and finishing ahead of Weir at the Olympics.

Weir’s strength on the ice is his elegance and artistry, and a willingness to step outside the box and try something new.

But even if Weir is second to Lysacek on the world stage, he’ll be gunning for a fourth straight men’s title this week in Spokane. Such a feat hasn’t been accomplished since Boitano claimed four straight from 1985 to 1988.

The winner may be determined by which athlete is limping less. Weir and Lysacek pulled out of the Grand Prix final after each injured his right hip. Weir’s injury involves his takeoff leg, Lysacek’s his landing leg.

At the 2006 Olympics, Weir skated an impressive short program and took second place behind Evgeni Plushenko in that segment. However, Weir omitted some of his planned jumps in the free skating, and fell to fifth in the final standings. At the 2006 World Championships, Weir finished seventh, fighting a nagging back injury. He also landed his first clean quadruple jump at the competition.

He began the 2006-07 competitive season at Skate Canada International, where he placed third. He went on to Cup of Russia and won the silver medal, his third consecutive medal at that event. He withdrew from the Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final after the short program due to injury.

Weir trains at the Pond Ice Arena in Newark under long-time coach Priscilla Hill. Unlike most figure skaters, he is a clockwise spinner.

Weir has said he wants a career in fashion when he’s finished skating. He designed the costumes for Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov’s free dance this year. blog comments powered by Disqus