Gay Johnny Weir caught in crossfire over his stand on Games protests
'I could never boycott the Olympics', says figure skater who has been criticised by LGBT groups
As an openly gay American athlete who is a self-confessed Russophile, Johnny Weir feels he has been caught "in a crossfire" for not backing a boycott of the Sochi Olympics in the wake of the country's anti-gay policies.
Yet the flamboyant figure skater, who had hoped to compete in next month's Winter Games until his aching body let him down, is adamant that an issue that affects a minority group should not ruin a "lifetime of sacrifices" made by thousands of athletes.
"I've come under so much hate and scrutiny from within my own LGBT community for my views on the Olympics," two-time Olympian Weir said.
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
"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 [in 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.
"The entire Olympic team is not made up of LGBT people. It's people who've sacrificed their livelihoods, it's people who've sacrificed their parents' finances and health and sometimes even marriages to get that one chance at glory.