Tonya harding why me

Harding and Kerrigan never seemed to qualify as friends who confided in each other. Harding was napping in her room at the time. Why me? Though Harding went on to win first place at the U. Kerrigan ended up taking home a silver medal, while Oksana Baiul won gold and Harding, who broke a lace on her skate , placed eighth.

Of course, that entire day was a madhouse, with both media and onlookers salivating for drama between the women. Harding has claimed that Gillooly designed the attack not to help Harding, but to punish her for only agreeing to return to their ill-fated relationship as a USFSA-directed publicity grab to help improve her chances at the Olympics. Ann Schatz was the first reporter to nab a sit-down interview with Harding shortly after the incident.

I remember him standing over my shoulder, glaring at her — I could see his image in the mirror — with this look I had never seen on him before. On February 1st, , he agreed to testify against Harding for a plea deal. Gillooly was sentenced to two years in prison for racketeering, and Eckhardt, Stant and Derrick Smith the getaway car driver all ended up serving time for the assault as well.

She was also banned from skating in any professional or amateur USFSA event for the rest of her life. The legacy Both Kerrigan and Harding stopped competing after the Olympics. Harding has gone on to get remarried twice , have kids, and dabble in various careers, including celebrity boxing. But in interviews, she seems flummoxed by the turn her life has taken. What am I gonna do for the rest of my life?

Kwan let Kerrigan go first, out of deference and respect. Kerrigan, the reigning national champion, leaned against the boards and slipped covers over her blades. She wore a white lacy costume and black gloves.

She was probably 7 or 8 feet in front of me. Kwan stopped to talk to her coach, Frank Carroll, and Kerrigan disappeared through a blue curtain, heading into the hallway. A moment later, Kerrigan was struck on the knee by a man with a black, retractable metal baton, a vicious attack that changed figure skating forever.

Simpson trial, as investigators discovered that a group of bumbling, amateurish thugs had been plotting to take out Kerrigan to help Tonya Harding , Kerrigan's rival. There was even an opera based on the scandal. The whole situation was absurd and ridiculous, but it turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to the sport.

That single moment catapulted figure skating to a different level of interest. It was the reason behind massive TV ratings at the Winter Olympics, and the skaters became worldwide celebrities, raking in millions while being treated like rock stars.

Now, 25 years later, the U. Figure Skating Championships are returning to the scene of the crime, so to speak. It was a dark day.

Kwan went on to become a two-time Olympic medalist, five-time world champion and nine-time U. But that moment in Cobo Arena changed her. It shaped how she would view gun violence and mental health issues, as she dealt with different situations with fans over her career. The attacker busted through a door and escaped without being initially identified.

I was 77 pounds. He threw me aside. Security came immediately. The camera crew was already there. It was a frightening thing for a year-old to experience. This was before spectators had to go through metal detectors to get into a sporting event. It still seems ridiculous that something like that happened. It still seems way out of place to me. Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon, who in was deputy chief of the Detroit Police Department, became the face of the investigation.

Ike McKinnon was the new police chief. And I was the new chief of detectives. Kerrigan was carried into the locker room and transported to a hospital.

She suffered a cut, a bruise and swelling on her right knee, the one she used to land jumps during her routines.

She was scheduled to skate in the short program the following day, but had to withdraw from the competition. We recognized how devastating it was for her, as an Olympic athlete and what it was doing, quite frankly, to her chances of competing.

She appeared to be a really nice lady in the short time I had to talk to her. I hate that it happened to Nancy. She was very gracious, actually, considering how bad she was hurt. How devastating it had to be to her at that point in her career.

She says she knows who hit Nancy Kerrigan. Then, he called the FBI. We all went down to his office that day and had a meeting to talk about what she told me. As they started verifying that information, it started really panning out, 'Hey, this stuff is credible. The story became international news. It was like a reality TV show before there were reality TV shows.

Simpson got into trouble," Napoleon said. They were in front of my office all day, every day. Then, all of a sudden, I see everybody pulling up. The media trucks were speeding off. Simpson the Bronco chase on June 17, It was crazy. That whole time period. As the investigation started playing out and we found out more and more about who the people were involved, it was just amazing to me, how the plan was hatched.

Why it was hatched. And the people who were involved and how really not smart they were, which was unfortunate for us. Kerrigan started to hear rumors that Harding was involved, which she found stunning. Kerrigan later tells the press: "Humor is good, it's empowering. Tonya Harding discussing a snapped lace on her skate with the judges during the ladies skating event at the Winter Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway.

On the night of the Olympics, Harding abruptly stops performing during her first skate due to a broken shoelace. Although she's allowed a re-skate, it proves pointless. Harding ultimately comes in eighth place at the Olympics, with many people calling the results "karma. With high expectations to win gold due to the infamous events that propelled her into the media spotlight, Kerrigan skates her best yet, but still falls short of gold, thanks to a surprise upset by year-old Ukrainian Oksana Baiul.

Taking silver, Kerrigan appears to be displeased and later gets caught on camera complaining about Baiul who was causing a delay in the medal ceremony. Tonya Harding waving to cameramen on January 6, - two days after the attack on Kerrigan. With evidence mounted against her, Harding officially pleads guilty to the charge of "conspiracy to hinder prosecution.

A few months later, her national championships title is revoked, and she is banned from the USFSA forever. With the exception of Harding, everyone else involved in Kerrigan's attack serves jail time.

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