Philadelphia Area Olympic Ice Skaters

Figure Skater Johnny Weir was born and raised in the Philadelphia area, and Ice Dancing Partners Ben Agosto and Tanith Belbin recently moved their training location to Aston, Pennsylvania.

FIGURE SKATER JOHNNY WEIR was born on July 2, 1984, in rural Coatesville, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia. He is the 2008 World bronze medallist and three-time U.S. Champion. He graduated from Newark High School in Delaware, and now lives in Lyndquist, New Jersey. He was inspired by Olympic skater Oksana Baiul, and practiced skating on a frozen cornfield as a child. His parents enrolled him in a group skating program at the University of Delaware to be closer to his coach and training rink. His favorite activity is listed as "Running through the grass barefoot because he can only do that when he's in PA." Weir is fascinated with all things Russian, and describes himself as a "Fashion'ice'ta." "Every day's a costume, I'm always too much," he jokes. He designs his own costumes and decorated his New Jersey apartment with reindeer pelts and animal tusks. When he retires from skating, he plans to attend the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. Weir is outspoken has been known to stir up controversy,

ICE DANCERS BENJAMIN AGOSTO and TANITH BELBIN are the 2006 Olympic Silver Medallists, and 5-time U.S. Champions (2004-2008), making them the most decorated ice dance team in U.S. history. They now train at the Ice Works in the Philadelphia suburb of Aston, Pennsylvania, under their new coaches, Natalia Linichuk and Gennadi Karponossov. Ironically, they now share coaches and train with their Russian rivals, Oksana Domnina and Maksim Shabalin at that site.

Ben Agosto was born January 15, 1982, in Chicago, and when not spinning and jumping on the ice, he enjoys trail biking, fishing and scuba diving and is an avid musician, hoping one day to joint a blues band. He also rock climbs, but says, "I don't climb mountains or anything, I like to go to areas where you can clip your rope as you go. It's pretty exhilarating because there's an element of perceived danger...Somebody will catch you, eventually." He says he was inspired as a child by 1988 Olympic Skating Champion Brian Boitano.

Tanith Belbin was born July 11, 1984, in Kingston, Ontario. Concerned that her citizenship papers would not come through in time for the 2006 Olympics, she applied for and was granted U.S. citizenship in 2005 under a special amendment for "aliens with extraordinary ability," making her eligible to compete for the USA. Belbin is proud to represent the U.S., saying," "The U.S. is where I've made my career. It's my home, it's my future, and it's my entire adult life. It's where my friends and family are now." Belbin lists shopping as one of her other interests, and her favorite musicians are Dave Matthews, the Cold War kids and Of Montreal.

The Olympic skating pair almost missed the Opening Ceremonies due to back-to-back blizzards in the Philadelphia area. Their planned Thursday flight was cancelled on Monday after the first storm and warnings of an even worse second storm. They snowplowed to their practice rink while frantically trying to arrange flights out. Booked on "a dozen" rolling flights on Thursday, which included the possibility of taking Amtrak to Boston, they finally received news Thursday afternoon they were booked on a 6 p.m. flight to Los Angeles, where they hopped a flight to Vancouver. They arrived Friday, minutes before their scheduled news conference and eight hours before the opening ceremony.

Sources: Local Olympic Athletes; Weir bio; Agosto bio; Belbin bio; Weather plays havoc