The legend of Tonya Harding chronicles her rise to fame and sudden fall from grace.
She is best known for becoming the first American woman to land a triple axel in competition and is considered one of the most controversial skaters in American history, according to her biography on olympics.com.
Harding’s notoriety stems from a scandal involving her chief rival during the 1994 Winter Olympics, Nancy Kerrigan. A conspiracy to remove Kerrigan from the game spirals out of control. Planned by her ex-husband Jeff Gillooly and accomplice Sean Eckardt, attacker Sean Stant struck Kerrigan above the knee with a metal baton, knocking her out at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships .
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Harding’s relationship with the public and the skating community has been on thin ice since the scandal, which resulted in her being forced to resign from the United States Figure Skating Association (USFSA) as part of a plea deal for her role in Kerrigan’s attack.
Around 1992, American figure skater Tonya Harding competed in a figure skating competition. (Focus on Sports)
Who is Tonya Harding?
Harding’s life is often viewed through the lens of two different eras: before the events of January 6, 1994, and after the infamous Kerrigan attack. Harding discovered her passion for skating at the age of three, showing undeniable talent that, at the insistence of her mother, LaVona Golden, she was joined by former “Ice Capades” star Diane Directed by Diane Rawlinson.
She won her first competition at age 5 and completed her first triple jump at age 8, according to the Olympic website. She quickly became famous for her signature move, the triple axel.
Harding’s competitive trajectory is on the rise. In 1986, she finished sixth at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, according to Encyclopedia.com. In 1989, according to the Olympics website, she finished third. In 1990, she won the Skate America championship.
(This event, and the life of Tonya Harding, was dramatized in the 2017 film “I, Tonya,” starring Margot Robbie (right).)
The crowning achievement of Harding’s career was his first successful triple axel jump at the 1991 U.S. Championships.
She repeated the move on Skate America, setting two world records — and both she and Kerrigan have appeared on the reality TV show since 1994, according to her “Dancing with the Stars” profile on ABC.com.
Tonya Harding (left) and Nancy Kerrigan were competing for spots on the U.S. Olympic figure skating team when Kerrigan was attacked in 1994. (Vincent Amalvi/AFP via Getty Images)
Harding’s victory at the 1994 U.S. Championships qualified her for the Olympic team, but the U.S. Food Safety Administration revoked her title amid the Kerrigan scandal.
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Physical abuse was a big part of her life, from abuse by her mother as a child to domestic abuse by her husband.
The 1994 Olympics and the Nancy Kerrigan Affair
As the figure skater prepared for the 1994 Winter Olympics, an unprecedented attack left Kerrigan wounded above the knee with a police baton. This happened as the camera crew was wrapping up filming her practice session.
After the 1994 attack, a widely circulated video of Nancy Kerrigan showed her crying and asking, “Why?” Some media reported that she said, “Why me?” (New York Daily News via Getty Images)
“There was a cameraman right behind her, so I had to go behind the cameraman,” the attacker later told Inside Edition. “I was probably a foot and a half behind him. I knew as soon as he put the camera down and walked away, the camera was going to go off.”
Film crews began filming immediately after the attackers smashed a glass door and took off in a getaway car, with Kerrigan crying, “Why? Why? Why?” Some sources claim she said: “Why? Why is that? Me! ” like the New York Daily Mail.
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The aftermath of the Kerrigan attack
Kerrigan did not compete in the U.S. Figure Skating Championships due to injury. Despite being unable to compete, she was named to the 1994 U.S. Olympic team by the USFSA.
Although Harding was not the one who physically assaulted Kerrigan, she was soon accused of being a suspect in an attack on her figure skating rival. Once details began to emerge and confessions were made, Harding came under scrutiny for his role in the attack and quickly gained notoriety in the lead-up to the Olympics.
“I know this is something that will stay with me for the rest of my life.”
After questioning, the FBI discovered that Gillooly and Eckhardt had carried out the attack. Stant, the attacker, was assisted by his uncle, Derek Smith, who was also a co-conspirator.
Tonya Harding finished eighth at the 1994 Olympics. She was banned for life by U.S. Figure Skating after pleading guilty to hindering the prosecution of her attacker. (David Madison/Getty Images)
Harding initially denied involvement in the attack but later admitted conspiring to hinder the prosecution. The crime means she knew details of the crime but failed to notify authorities.
Results of the 1994 Winter Olympics
Harding was allowed to compete in the 1994 Winter Olympics, although she was stripped of the 1994 U.S. Championship title. Judges asked her to return to skating after an unfortunate incident with shoelaces, an important factor in figure skating success. After her second try, she finished eighth, according to a 1994 article in The Oregonian, “1994 Winter Olympics: Tonya Harding finishes eighth in women’s figure skating.”
At the 1994 Olympics, judges allowed Tonya Harding to resume skating while also giving her time to repair her skating. Her results were affected by the incident and she finished eighth in the women’s singles event. (Clive Brunskill/ALLSPORT)
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Kerrigan finished second and received a silver medal, symbolizing her resilience.
Tonya Harding life after skating
When Harding was restricted from competing in figure skating, she picked herself up and began a boxing career. According to the Olympic website, she had three wins and three losses during her boxing career from 2003 to 2004.
ESPN’s 2014 “The Price of Gold” and the 2017 film “I, Tonya” both documented incidents involving figure skaters. The film focuses on Harding’s early life and the abuse she suffered while pursuing her dreams, embodying the emotional toll her mother’s parenting tactics took on her. “I, Tonya” was written by Steven Rogers and stars Margot Robbie as Tonya and Allison Janney as her mother Lavona.
Tonya Harding is a contestant on the 26th season of “Dancing with the Stars” Athletes’ Special. The season aired in 2018. (Entertainment content from Getty Images)
According to biography.com, Harding divorced Gillooly in 1993 and married Michael Smith in 1995, a marriage that lasted until 1996. She currently lives in Washington, D.C., with her third husband, Joseph Jens Price. They have a son, Gordon. The closing credits of “I, Tonya” express that she wanted the world to know that she was a good mother.
Stant served his sentence and underwent a major personal transformation. He has shared the story of his conversion to Christianity while incarcerated with news outlets like Bleacher Report, and expressed his gratitude to Inside Edition for the time in prison that led to this life-changing experience.
“I hope {Kerrigan} understands that I’m sorry for what I did and that I’m a different person.”
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Pictured: Tonya Harding’s ex-husband Jeff Gillooly, her bodyguard Shawn Eckardt hired Shane Stant to attack Nancy Kerrigan Nancy Kerrigan) attacks. (Chris Wilkins/AFP via Getty Images)
After Gillooly was released from prison in 1995, he changed his name to Jeff Stone, according to Good Housekeeping and other reports. According to an interview with Deadspin, he now works as a car salesman and lives in Oregon with his current wife. He also had two children with his ex-wife, who committed suicide in 2005 after battling drug addiction.
