Skater caught between calls for boycott, dreams of Olympic glory
FILE - In this Jan. 17, 2010, file photo, Johnny Weir shows off his medal for third place during the men's free skate at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Spokane, Wash.
Skater Johnny Weir is caught in a bind. An openly gay skater who competed in the 2006 and 2010 Winter Olympics, he is being criticized by a segment of the LGBT community for not calling for a boycott of the Sochi Games because of Russia's anti-gay propaganda policy. But Weir insists that the sacrifices one must make to become an Olympian far outweigh the political concerns of one group.
"I've come under so much hate and scrutiny from within my own LGBT community for my views on the Olympics,"Weir told Reuters. "But as somebody who watched my parents sacrifice everything so that I had at least one chance of making the Olympics, I could never boycott the Olympics whether they be in Pyongyang (North Korea), in Uganda, in Iran or Mars. I would have competed there because my whole life has been about going to the Olympics. Being gay isn't something that I chose, being gay is something I was born into. But being an Olympic athlete was something that I chose and something I worked hard for and I'll see it to any necessary end." Full story. Yahoo Sports
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