http://www.chicagotribune.com/sport...,3587394.story?coll=chi-olympics-topheadlines
Imitation is the highest form of praise, but Rudy Galindo still feels more flustered than flattered watching U.S. figure skater Johnny Weir dance on the ice at the Winter Olympics.
Galindo occasionally sees a spin or a jump in Weir's "Swan" program that looks familiar. Maybe an outfit stands out. He definitely recognizes Weir's flashy, effeminate persona.
"I worked so hard at creating a program, and then I'll see he's copied something later, whether it's a costume or a move," Galindo, 35, the last openly gay U.S. Olympic-caliber skater to come out 10 years ago, said on the phone Wednesday from his home in Reno.
The 1996 U.S. champion, who declared his sexual orientation before getting a chance to compete in the Games, knows Weir from the "Champions on Ice" tour on which both perform. The stage is not the only thing icy when they do.
"We don't get along so well because I have no respect for somebody who would copy me," Galindo said. "So we've built up this animosity."
Imitation is the highest form of praise, but Rudy Galindo still feels more flustered than flattered watching U.S. figure skater Johnny Weir dance on the ice at the Winter Olympics.
Galindo occasionally sees a spin or a jump in Weir's "Swan" program that looks familiar. Maybe an outfit stands out. He definitely recognizes Weir's flashy, effeminate persona.
"I worked so hard at creating a program, and then I'll see he's copied something later, whether it's a costume or a move," Galindo, 35, the last openly gay U.S. Olympic-caliber skater to come out 10 years ago, said on the phone Wednesday from his home in Reno.
The 1996 U.S. champion, who declared his sexual orientation before getting a chance to compete in the Games, knows Weir from the "Champions on Ice" tour on which both perform. The stage is not the only thing icy when they do.
"We don't get along so well because I have no respect for somebody who would copy me," Galindo said. "So we've built up this animosity."