Athleticism, Artistry and Sexuality - oh my

Figure Skating Rivalry Pits Athleticism Against Artistry

One stands 6 feet 2 inches, wears panther black and dates ESPN’s Hottest Female Athlete. The other weighs an avian 125 pounds, favors sequined swan outfits and coyly brushes off patter about his sexuality.

One skates with precision and adrenalized power, wants figure skating in the X Games and wears several days of stubble during competitions. The other adores skating’s operatic performances, is asked if his eyelashes are real and announces that they are.

One is accused of being robotic and rehearsed. The other is the one doing the accusing — saying “I just don’t like him,” before buttoning his fur coat and grabbing his Louis Vuitton bag.

Evan Lysacek (lower right) and Johnny Weir (left) share nothing — except their status as the top two figure skaters in the United States. The closest they ever hope to be is on a medal podium.

Lysacek, who fashions himself a hard-core athlete, has won the last two United States national titles. Weir, an athlete into hard-core fashion, won the previous three. Lysacek favors skating’s jumps and stunts and can do without all the pomp, while Weir is one of the most hypnotically graceful male skaters.

Yet the two are so close in overall talent that at the national championships in January they finished tied, with 244.77 points apiece, before the title went to Lysacek on a tie breaker.

Lysacek and Weir were set to face off again this weekend at the annual world championships in Goteborg, Sweden, but Lysacek had to withdraw after injuring his arm in a fall last week. They remain on a collision course for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver — accompanied by growing gaggles of fans who believe that loving one means hating the other, giving figure skating a rivalry of uncommon passion and depth.

In the normally placid enclave of figure skating, supporting either Evan Lysacek the Athlete or Johnny Weir the Artist has become a virtual referendum on matters from skating style and personal style to sexuality itself.

“If he doesn’t want to skate to music that’s pretty and wear a pretty costume, then go rollerblade or skateboard or do one of those extreme sports,” Weir said of Lysacek.

Used to the outspoken Weir needling him from afar, Lysacek did not take the bait, and kept driving his truck down a Los Angeles highway.

“It’s a distraction,” he said, “but Johnny doesn’t affect how I skate and how I push myself. If this is what it takes for figure skating to attract some attention, I can live with that.”

Read the rest in the New York Times.