Q1: With World Championships next week in Russia, how has every thing been going?

JOHNNY WEIR: Since Nationals I haven’t made any major changes to the programs. I think what we started with was pretty good and I’ve done well with it all season. So, I didn’t really feel the need to change anything. Training has been going very well. I’ve been landing at least seven quad-toes per day. It’s just going to be a matter of how I feel once I actually get to Russia on if I’ll actually do it or not. I don’t think I’ve ever been in such good shape before. It’s been a growing period, trying to learn how to balance my skating and when I have to compete and how to schedule everything. I really feel good and like I’m ready for this World Championship.

Q2: You have a pretty big fan base in Russia. Will that motivate you when you go out there to skate next week?

JOHNNY WEIR: Of course it’s always best to go out and skate when there are people screaming your name and wanting you to do well. I’m such a fan of Russian skating and of Russia in general that it’s very flattering that I have a fan base in Russia and they all support me. I’m the American champion, not the Russian champion; I’m very excited about that.

Q3: Why do you like Russian skating so much?

JOHNNY WEIR: Russian skating has been very dominant and that obviously is something that is very appealing. I enjoy the Russian style and how they’re not afraid to take chances with costuming or program or music or technical elements. They’re not afraid of what people might think. That’s something that speaks very well for them and it works. Hopefully you can tell that there Russian influence in my skating. I’ve had a Russian choreographer since I’ve started and now working with Tatiana Tarasova every summer it helps me get into that mold where I feel like I can experiment and take chances. That is probably the thing as an artist I look up to the most. Technically they’re very strong and they take risks. That’s the technical aspect that I enjoy the most about Russian skating.

Q4: What do you admire most about Evgeni Plushenko?

JOHNNY WEIR: Plushenko is an amazing competitor and the best technician in the world. There are people that rival his artistry and there are also people that can rival his jumps. The fact that he can package it so well and keep delivering performance after performance after performance makes him someone to look up to definitely. He has one of the strongest minds I’ve ever seen when it comes to competing. I’m still a little bit in awe of him, but not scared. I’m just like, ‘Wow! That’s Evgeni Plushenko’ and ‘Wow! Look what he’s doing’ and ‘Wow! He’s amazing.’ That sort of thing. I’m now competing against him, but I’m still a huge fan of Evgeni Plushenko.

 Q5: Entering your second World Championship, what’s the biggest difference now than what you felt a year ago?

JOHNNY WEIR: The biggest difference is that now I know what to expect. I know I may have to skate very early in the morning for qualifying and then short is the next day. Then I have a day in between for my free skate. It just comes with the territory of competing a lot and really knowing what to expect. I wouldn’t say I’m feeling any different. I’m still very excited and a little bit nervous about competing and showing my best to the world on all the world television networks.

Q6: Are there any chances you would like to take that you’ve been holding back on?

JOHNNY WEIR: I feel like every performance I give is a little piece of me and a little piece of my soul. I work hard every day to be able to deliver that. So I don’t see the point in holding back. I do everything that I’m comfortable with. I know my limitations. I don’t like to go and say ‘I’m going to put three quads in my free program and have level three steps and spins on everything.’ It’s not possible. I know what can do and I know what I can’t do. I know what my body and my mind are comfortable with. The only thing I think I’ve set back on is putting the quad in and that will only be a matter of time because I realize I’ll need it if I want to be Olympic champion next year. For now, I’m happy with how everything is going.

Q7: Risks artistically?

JOHNNY WEIR: Artistically, I think I do risk it. If you consider the rest of the American men and the American public, I think I’m definitely risking a lot with my choice of music and my different styles of skating and the costumes I wear, which are outrageous. It is just something that is a little bit different for an American man. I don’t know if I could do anything else. I would feel very uncomfortable wearing other things, skating to other things or being a certain way just to fit this cookie cutter idea of what a top athlete should be and what they should be like. I’m risking a lot compared to a lot of other American skaters.

Q8: Michelle Kwan has been on the elite level for a long time and she has been very consistent. Now she is going for her sixth title, what do you think of that?

JOHNNY WEIR: I grew up with my skating admiring Michelle Kwan. I didn’t start until a later age and she was the hot thing at that moment. She still is, really. Going for a sixth World title is amazing. First of all, that she has it in her to do that. Secondly, that her body is holding up. I really don’t know if I would go for six World titles. It’s just something so admirable. She still has a smile on her face and she still is giving her all every year. It’s truly something that’s amazing. I think it’s very specific to Michelle and know one will ever match that sort of love of this sport. Everyone loves to skate, but to do it for that long and be at the top and not really think of hanging up her skates and being done. She doesn’t feel she has achieved everything she can achieve. It’s amazing. I can’t say she’s lazy.

Q9: Why wouldn’t you go for six World titles?

JOHNNY WEIR:  Just the longevity of that takes so much focus and it’s something I know my body would even be able to hold up with. As I’m working more and more on quads, I’m a little bit more soar every morning and I am getting older. It’s just mind-boggling. It’s amazing that she is doing it. I wish her all the luck really at Worlds. No one deserves it more than she does.

Q10: You’ve been landing the quadruple-toe jump. Where would you put the quad in your program?

JOHNNY WEIR: It would just be in the free program. There has been a lot of pressure put on me about the quad my many different sources. I’m going to do it when I feel comfortable and I feel it’s perfected. I don’t like putting things into the program until I feel that they’re perfect and I’ll be able to do them every time. The quad-toe is getting to that point. I’m very excited that it will be in for next season. It’s just going to be a feeling at this point, not the training aspect of it because I know I’m trained well enough to do it. If I do it, it will go at the beginning of the free program, either the first jumping element or the second jumping element. I would actually do it in combination with triple toe-double loop.