The story of Nancy Kerrigan vs. Tonya Harding
The attack
The man who attacked Nancy was Shane Stant. Stant was hired by none other than Nancy’s opponent, Tonya Harding and her ex-husband, to break her leg so she would be too hurt to perform, and thus not make it to the 1994 Winter Olympic Games in Lillenhammer.
1994 Winter Olympic Games
The event that Nancy ended up withdrawing from was the one Tonya Harding ended up winning. Both Tonya and Nancy were selected to be on that year’s Olympic team.
Consequences
Once the world heard of what Tonya did to Nancy, there was hell to pay. Tonya avoided jail time but was give three years probation, $160,000 fine, and 500 hours of community service.
Tonya’s statement
Obviously, Tonya would have to make a statement in regards to the Kerrigan situation. Her statement read, “I would like to begin by saying how sorry I am about what happened to Nancy Kerrigan.
Continued statement
Her statement continued, “When I returned home Monday, January 10th, 1994, I was exhausted but still focused on the national championships. Within the next few days, I learned that some persons that were close to me may have been involved in the assault.
Life before the storm – Nancy
Prior to her time in the public eye and professional skating, Nancy was just a regular girl who went to Stoneham High School, followed by Emmanuel College in Boston, where she studied business.
Love and marriage
After Nancy retired from competing, she married Jerry Solomon, her agent. They were married in 1995 and proceeded to have three children together – Matthew, born in 1996, Brian, born in 2005 and Nicole in 2008.
Life before the storm – Tonya
As recently depicted in the film I, Tonya, Tonya was born and raised in Portland, Oregon. She started skating when she was just three years old. She didn’t finish her high school years, but instead got her GED to complete her studies.
Making a criminal
It is easy to see why and how Tonya became the attention seeking criminal she later became. Her mother was abusive, her passion for the ice is all she had, and her later marriage was also said to have been an ill-fated one, with abuse therein as well.
Tonya’s ice accomplishments
Ironically enough, if Harding wouldn’t have done anything to Nancy, she wouldn’t have ended her career and could have gone on to coach at the very least. Her accomplishments in the field of ice skating were impressive.
Kerrigan’s representation
In 2003, Nancy became a spokesperson for the foundation Fight for Sight. The foundation’s goal is to bring awareness for visually impaired individuals. Nancy’s mother was legally blind, so it was a cause close to her heart.
Nancy’s TV and movie career
Nancy appeared in several television shows and movies over the years. In 1995, Nancy had a guest role on Boy Meets World. She was also on the show Skating with Celebrities in 2006, Blades of Glory in 2007, and hosted her own hour on Nancy Kerrigan’s World of Skating.
Hall of Fame
For her contributions in the world of ice skating, Nancy was inducted into the United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame back in 2004. In addition to the hall of fame, Nancy was honored at the Ice Theatre of New York in their gala in 2008.
Boxing Tonya
Tonya would do anything to try and revive her fame and get some income. In one of her attempts she tried her hand at a boxing career. In 2002, Tonya boxed against Paula Jones and won the event.
A one year boxing career
Tonya was in seven fights over the course of a year and a half – the duration of her boxing career. She won four of the seven fights, which is what she wanted considering she was making money off of them.
Weight gain
During the years after her figure skating career ended, Tanya had gained a lot of weight (much of which she has since managed to drop). While she used to be very fit during her skating days, after her boxing career, Harding looked different.
Tonya never apologized
Stopping for a second to think back at what happened between these two women, you would think that Tonya would have apologized to Nancy at the very least. However, in April 2017 (before I, Tonya, was released), Nancy was interviewed stating that Tonya never apologized to her.
Adult entertainment
As if boxing wasn’t hard enough, Tonya wanted to capitalize on her name being in the press so much and sold her adult tape with her ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly (who was a co-conspirator on the Nancy Kerrigan case) for a cool $200,000 to Penthouse.
Tonya’s marriages
Tonya married Jeff Gillooly, the man who helped her hurt Nancy, in 1990. Their marriage, along with their attack, ended in disaster. The couple divorced in 1993.
I, Tonya
A biopic about “the incident” and Tonya Harding’s life in general was released in 2017. I, Tonya was produced as a sports black comedy, and it starred some very big names, such as Margot Robbie (who is playing Tonya Harding, much to the compliment of Tonya), as well as Allison Janney, Paul Walter Hauser, and Bobby Cannavale.
The attack in Nancy’s words
In 2017, Nancy spoke to 60 Minutes about the attack for the first time since its happened. She said, “I was hit right above my kneecap, if I was hit just a little below, my kneecap would’ve been shattered, just a little above, the whole muscle would’ve been calcified.”
Nancy’s net worth
According to several sources, Nancy is worth $8 million. Her annual salary is $600,000 from her various endorsement deals and other business ventures she was wise to invest in. Her net worth includes her properties with her family.
The end of Tonya’s road
Tonya Harding had faded into obscurity. She had been shunned and banned from all skating events and the public opinion of her is no better. The world was divided and had taken Nancy’s side of the situation. Tonya was seen as the villain and Nancy the victim.
Tonya’s net worth
Unlike Nancy’s $8 million net worth, Tonya Harding’s net worth stands at a measly $30,000. Honestly, there is poetic justice in Harding never amounting to anything considering what she did in order to even try to make a name for herself.
Boosting celebrity
About moving on after the event, Nancy said,” I always wanted to be a mom, so skating’s something I did, not who I was, so it was fun. Life moves on, and I became a mom, it’s the best.”
Nancy’s struggle
Life has not been as easy as she deserved it to be, but Nancy had a hard time conceiving. She let the struggle be known when she was interviewed on Dancing with the Stars.
Bad press
Of all the people in the world, Nancy Kerrigan was accused of being the other woman! When she and her now-husband Jerry got together, his ex-wife accused Nancy of taking him from her.
Tonya today
Tonya hasn’t been welcomed in most circles since the 90s. She has kept busy by commentating on the TruTV tv show The Smoking Gun Presents: World’s Dumbest… Many B-level celebrities like Harding have been the commentators of the show.
Nancy today
Nancy will always be known for the woman who survived being attacked for her talent and someone else’s jealousy. She went on to become a professional ice skater and performed in many ice shows.
Rave reviews
Parts of the Tonya Harding Movie, titled I, Tonya, were recently screened at the Toronto International Film Festival. The festival is one of the largest film festivals open to the public in the world, with an average of half a million people attending.
Gotham awards
The Gotham awards are presented every year in New York City (whose nickname is, in fact, Gotham). The awards are specifically geared towards films which are filmed and produced primarily in New York City (although some Los Angeles films are allowed in now).
Played by an Australian
While Tonya Harding was American to the core, astoundingly, the director decided to cast an Australian to play her in I,Tonya. And honestly, we could not even tell. The actress, Margot Robbie, does an incredible job hiding her Australian accent in order to play the role of the baddest skater of them all.
Turning into Tonya
Believe it or not, one of Margot Robbie’s main problems when playing Tonya Harding was, as explained in Vogue Magazine, dealing with how “classically beautiful” Robbie is. In fact, the makeup artists actually needed to make her look a little bit less attractive than she actually is in order to enable her to accurately portray Harding.
Wearing prosthetics
The film I, Tonya is a bio-pic, which means that it shows Tonya Harding in all different stages of her life. The film begins when Tonya is a child, and then Margot Robbie appears as the timeline switches to Tonya’s twenties.
Writing Tonya
The movie I, Tonya tries to stay as true to the real story of Tonya Harding as possible. In order to do that, the directors and writers needed to be in constant contact with Harding, asking her tough questions about her childhood and really getting into her head.
Dancing with the stars
Nancy Kerrigan is well known for her acrobatics and her ice dancing skills, but recently Kerrigan, now in her mid 40s, decided that it was time for her to start on another challenge – competitive dancing.
Needing surgery
One of the secrets that Nancy carried with her during her time competing on Dancing with the Stars was the fact that she had immense pain in her back the entire time. In fact, she went to four different doctors, and every single one of them told Nancy that she needed to have surgery.
Through the pain
During an interview with ABC regarding her life and her time on Dancing with the Stars, interviewer Juju Chang asked Nancy Kerrigan about what it was like to perform on the show with such horrible pain.
“Why???”
Upon getting attacked with a club and sustaining immense damage to her legs, reporters captured the moment when Kerrigan, writhing in pain, started screaming “why???” In the same ABC interview, Juju Chang criticized Kerrigan for asking such a silly question, and Kerrigan hit back hard.
Famous for the attack
Nancy Kerrigan is famous for two things – winning figure skating medals, and getting attacked by a henchman. In interviews Kerrigan has been asked what she says to people who criticize her for only being well known due to getting attacked.
Six miscarriages
Soon after she was attacked (and won a couple of medals), Nancy Kerrigan decided that she wanted to start a family with her husband Jerry Solomon. She gave birth to her first son Matthew in 1996, and then decided that she wanted to have more kids.
Death of a father
Nancy Kerrigan suffered yet another tragedy in 2010 when her father sadly passed away. Kerrigan’s brother Mark was extremely inebriated inside of the family home. Mark allegedly wanted to use the family phone, but his father would not let him.
What Nancy Kerrigan Said About ‘I, Tonya’
When asked about the movie I, Tonya, and what she thought about her portrayal in the film, Nancy Kerrigan replied, “I really have nothing to say about it. I haven’t seen anything.” Nancy’s annoyed response to the Tonya Harding movie perhaps stems from the fact that the movie had portrayed Tonya as the heroine of the story, whereas Nancy’s side was somewhat ignored.
The Real Reason Why You Don’t Hear From Nancy Kerrigan Anymore
Nancy Kerrigan has retired from her figure skating career back in the ’90s, but that’s not the only reason she’s been mostly out of the lime light ever since. The former figure skater received a lot of backlash for supposedly using her victim status to achieve fame, and even received threats to her life. She also took criticism for a comment she made at the Disney World parade, about how corny the event was.