NEW YORK (AP) -- Known as much for his outrageous costumes and comments as his intriguing skating, three-time U.S. figure skating champion Johnny Weir retired from competition Wednesday.
Weir, who competed for 16 years, won the 2004, '05 and '06 U.S. titles and finished fifth at the 2006 Olympics and sixth in 2010.
Weir said he was inspired to become a figure skater by watching the great Russians perform. He was coached to much of his competitive success by Soviet-trained Galina Zmievskaya. He is married to a Russian, Victor Voronov.
"I am outlandish and flamboyant and all those things," Weir said. "There was a focus on all that in my career, which I am fine with, but there also was a little attention paid to how hard I actually worked and how much went into it and how I came back so many times."
