"had 2 spots. The January 6, 1994, attack on 1993 champion and Ladies gold frontrunner Nancy Kerrigan preceded the event. The widely publicized attack took place during a practice session for the 1994 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Detroit. Tonya Harding's ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly, and her bodyguard, Shawn Eckardt, hired Shane Stant to strike Kerrigan on the knee, though Stant actually struck Kerrigan's thigh a few inches above the knee. Harding won the event, while Kerrigan's injury forced her withdrawal. After Harding admitted to helping to cover up the attack, the USFSA and United States Olympic Committee initiated proceedings to"
"with a broken skate lace, she was given a re-skate in the long program and finished in eighth place, far behind Oksana Baiul (gold) and Nancy Kerrigan (silver). In June 1994, Claire Ferguson, the President of the U.S. Figure Skating Association, voted to strip Harding of her 1994 title. However, the competition results were not changed and the title was left vacant rather than moving all the other competitors up one position. On , one day before the U.S. Figure Skating Championship first Ladies' Singles competition, Nancy Kerrigan was attacked after a practice session at the Detroit Cobo Arena. The"
"she had a better placement at the November 1992 Skate Canada International event finishing fourth. In the 1993 season, she skated poorly in the U.S. Championships and failed to qualify for the World Championship team. In 1994, Harding won the U.S. Championships, but was later stripped of her title because of her involvement in the attack on Nancy Kerrigan. Kerrigan was unable to participate in the U.S. Championships due to her injury. Despite the legal controversy, Harding was permitted to remain a member of the U.S. ice skating team at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. After an issue"
"many corporate sponsorship contracts (with companies such as Campbell's Soup, Evian, Reebok, and Seiko) and opportunities to perform professionally, which were permitted after the International Skating Union abolished the earlier strict amateur status rules that had governed eligibility for the sport. In preparation for the 1994 Winter Olympics, she curtailed these activities to focus on her training, instead. She also began working with a sports psychologist to better handle her nerves in competition. On January 6, 1994, at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Detroit, a criminal incident caused Kerrigan to gain international fame far beyond the skating world. As"
"1994, and 1998). The 1994 Games saw the nights with the highest ratings in the history of American Olympic telecasts, as a result of the scandal in which associates of Tonya Harding attacked Nancy Kerrigan and the media frenzy that followed, as well as Dan Jansen's speed skating gold medal win. The short program on February 23 is, , the sixth-highest rated primetime TV program in American history. It had a rating of 48.5 and a share of 64. The long program two days later had a rating of 44.1 and another 64 share; it ranks 32nd. Each telecast had"
"World silver medalist. In 1991, she earned distinction as being the first American woman to successfully land a triple Axel in competition, and the second woman to do so in history (behind Midori Ito). She is also a two-time Olympian and a two-time Skate America Champion. In January 1994, Harding became embroiled in controversy when her ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly, orchestrated an attack on fellow US Olympian Nancy Kerrigan. After the 1994 Winter Olympics, Harding ultimately pleaded guilty to hindering the prosecution on March 16 and was banned for life on June 30, 1994 from the U.S. Figure Skating Association. In"
"competitive figure skating. She recovered in time to compete at the 1994 Winter Olympics, where she won a silver medal. She then started touring, performing with several ice skating troupes including Champions on Ice and Broadway on Ice. In 2017, she was a contestant on season 24 of ""Dancing with the Stars"". Kerrigan was born in Stoneham, Massachusetts, the youngest child and only daughter of welder Daniel Kerrigan (1939–2010) and homemaker Brenda (née Schultz) Kerrigan (b. 1939). Her ancestry includes English, Irish and Asian and German. She has stated: ""There's very little Irish in me, just my name."" While her"
"and first in the free skate, she finished ahead of Bonaly and became world champion at age 15. In 1994, Baiul won the silver medal at the European Championships in Copenhagen, again finishing second to Bonaly. At the 1994 Winter Olympics, she was second to Nancy Kerrigan after the short program of Ladies' singles. During a practice session before the long program, she collided with Germany's Tanja Szewczenko, sustaining a wrenched lower back and a small cut on her right shin, which required three stitches. She received two Olympic-approved pain-killing injections of anesthetics in her lower back and shoulder, which"
"broadcasts. During the 2010 Winter Olympics, Kerrigan served as a ""special correspondent"" for ""Entertainment Tonight"". She has written an instructional book on advanced figure-skating technique, ""Artistry on Ice"" (). In 2014, ESPN aired ""The Price of Gold"", a ""30 for 30"" documentary about the 1994 attack. On February 23, 2014, NBC aired a documentary during the 2014 Winter Olympics on the incident called ""Nancy & Tonya"". On March 1, 2017, Kerrigan was named as one of the contestants who would compete on season 24 of ""Dancing with the Stars"". She was paired with professional dancer Artem Chigvintsev. Despite receiving higher"
"locate Nancy Kerrigan's training arena and her practice times. Eckardt hires two inept crooks to attack Kerrigan after a practice session in Detroit. On January 6, 1994, Eckardt’s henchmen strike Kerrigan's knee; she cannot compete at the next day's National competition. The hired henchmen are arrested. Eckardt's bragging quickly leads the FBI to him. He points the finger at Jeff, who is horrified to learn that Eckardt gave orders beyond sending the letters. Tonya qualifies for the Olympic team and is in turn horrified by Jeff, realizing that she will be found guilty by association. She goes to the FBI"
"defending 1993 U.S. Ladies' Champion) and the Winter Olympics. Kerrigan's leg was not broken but severely bruised, forcing her to withdraw from the Championships and forgo competing to retain the U.S. Ladies' title. On January 8, Harding won the U.S. Ladies' Singles title; she and Kerrigan were then both selected for the 1994 Olympic team. On February 1, Gillooly's attorney negotiated a plea bargain in exchange for testimony regarding all involved parties in the attack. He was sentenced in July after publicly apologizing to Kerrigan – even though, he said, ""any apology coming from me rings hollow."" Gillooly and Eckardt"
"World Synchronized Skating Championships, the World Figure Skating Championships, and the Olympic Games. Although the participants for Worlds and the Olympics are most often the top placers at US Nationals, there have been several times when other skaters have been selected due to injuries preventing them from competing at Nationals; Nancy Kerrigan being selected for the 1994 Olympics over 2nd-place finisher Michelle Kwan is one example. Most recently 2014 4th-place finisher Ashley Wagner was selected over 3rd place Mirai Nagasu ostensibly because of Wagner's more consistent international record; however because of Wagner's many endorsement contracts her selection has raised concerns"
"on the U.S. Olympic team: ""we will deal only with the facts."" Harding and Gillooly's lawyers publicly confirmed the couple were in daily contact and cooperation with law enforcement. On January 15, Harding and Gillooly spoke with reporters, but declined to comment about the investigation. On January 16, Harding's attorney read a news conference statement on her behalf, denying involvement in Kerrigan's attack. Harding left her home that evening to practice figure skating with her coaches, where she spoke with reporters and performed a triple Axel. On January 18, 1994, Harding submitted to questioning by the district attorney and FBI,"
"judges and competitors through a series of exhibitions. The first stop was Clearwater, Florida, Florida, then progressed on to Providence, Rhode Island, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and ended in New York City. Holliday qualified for the National Championships that year and finished in 13th place. Holliday's 4th National appearance was at the 1993 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, held at the US Airways Center in Phoenix, Arizona. Holliday's 5th and final National appearance was at the 1994 United States Figure Skating Championships, held at the Joe Louis Arena and as memorable as that event was (the attack on Nancy Kerrigan) for Holliday the"
"Claire Waters Ferguson Claire Waters Ferguson (born 1936) began skating at a young age and became a judge at age 16, working her way up to the national level and then to the Olympic level. She attended Michigan State University where she was a member of Alpha Phi and graduated with a degree in communication skills and English in 1957. In 1992, Ferguson became the first woman in the 75-year history of the United States Figure Skating Association to be named its president (1992-1995). Ferguson was president during the 1994 Winter Olympics and the Nancy Kerrigan/Tonya Harding incident. Ferguson was"
"However, she skated extremely poorly in the initial round, failing to even qualify for the main draw, leaving the U.S. with just two skaters in the ladies' event. After Ervin finished in 14th place, heavy favorite Nancy Kerrigan skated poorly and fell from first after the short program to fifth overall, leaving the U.S. with just two berths for 1994. While Kerrigan was the logical scapegoat for this outcome, some U.S. officials were rumored to harbor resentment against Kwiatkowski as well. Kwiatkowski did not skate well at the 1994 Nationals and finished a disappointing fifth, failing to qualify for an"
"including her story for ""The Hairpin"", about women in the sports media and their systematic disadvantage. It was shared widely and Sports Illustrated media critic Richard Deitsch used it as a platform for a larger roundtable discussion on women in sports media. Other recent pieces include her quest to find Jeff Gillooly, figure skater Tonya Harding's ex-husband who planned the attack on Nancy Kerrigan 20 years ago prior to the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer. Nelson was the only journalist to interview Gillooly and appeared in ESPN's ""30 for 30"" documentary ""The Price of Gold"". Her written and video piece"
"remove her from the 1994 Olympic team, but Harding retained her place after threatening legal action. She finished eighth in the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, while Kerrigan, who recovered from her injuries, finished second. During a warm-up, ice dancer Renée Roca was skating backward and collided with the team of Galit Chait and Maksim Sevostyanov, fracturing a bone in her left arm. Two hours later, she returned from the hospital with her arm in a cast and decided to try to compete. She and partner Gorsha Sur placed second in the rhumba, however, Roca was unable to secure"
"Trophy and 1993 Nations Cup. In NBC's 1994 made-for-TV movie ""Tonya and Nancy: The Inside Story"", Damigella served as the skating double for Heather Langenkamp, who played Nancy Kerrigan. She has worked as a skating coach at the Sunrise Ice Skating Center and Pines Ice Arena in Pembroke Pines, Florida. Tracey Damigella Tracey Damigella-Lohse (born 1969) is an American former competitive figure skater. As a single skater, she is the 1985 Grand Prix International St. Gervais champion, 1987 Novarat Trophy champion, 1985 Nebelhorn Trophy silver medalist, and 1986 U.S. national pewter medalist. Tracey Damigella was born 1969 and grew up"
"at her knee, wailing: ""Why, why, why?"" Kerrigan is also seen being carried away by her father Daniel. Although Kerrigan's injury forced her to withdraw from the U.S. Championships, her fellow skaters agreed that she merited one of the two spots on the Olympic team. The USFSA chose to name her to the Olympic team rather than second-place finisher Michelle Kwan, who was sent to Lillehammer as an alternate in the event that Harding was removed from the team. Kerrigan recovered quickly from her leg injury and resumed her intensive training. She practiced by doing complete back-to-back, double run-throughs of"
"of concealing criminal knowledge alone is not a crime. Nancy Kerrigan's attack had received a lot of publicity; news media crews had camped outside her home. The story was on the covers of ""Sports Illustrated"", ""Newsweek"", and ""TIME"" in January 1994. There was now much speculation about Harding's own alleged involvement in the assault plot. As they would be competing together again in the February Hamar Olympic Games, speculation soon reached a media frenzy. Abby Haight and J.E. Vader, journalists for ""The Oregonian"", wrote a biography of Harding called ""Fire on Ice"", which included excerpts of her January 18 FBI"
"of New York's annual benefit gala in 2008. Kerrigan's Olympic skating outfits were designed by noted fashion designer Vera Wang. Along with Christian Lacroix's designs for Surya Bonaly in 1992, Wang's designs marked a new trend toward couture in figure skating. Kerrigan's white 1992 free-skating costume resembled a wedding dress with sheer illusion sleeves and a basketweave design on the bodice. Kerrigan's 1994 Olympic dresses were also designed by Wang. She wore another white dress trimmed with black velvet bands and sheer black sleeves for the original program and a champagne-colored dress set with 11,500 rhinestones for the free skate."
"of the qualifying round. She was coached by Evy Scotvold until the summer of 1994. In late August 1994, Bobek joined Richard Callaghan at the Detroit Skating Club in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. On November 27, 1994, she sustained a deep puncture wound in her neck when she was attacked by a friend's dog, but she still competed at the Thrifty Car Rental International Challenge several days later. The 1994–95 season brought Bobek her greatest competitive success; she won gold at the U.S. Championships, followed by the bronze medal at the World Championships. In late 1995, she toured with an ice"
"Brown, Alicia Keys, Mariah Carey, Victoria Beckham, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Avril Lavigne, Hilary Duff, Khloe Kardashian, and Kim Kardashian. Wang's evening wear has also been worn by Michelle Obama. She has designed costumes for figure skaters, including Nancy Kerrigan, Michelle Kwan, Evan Lysacek, Nathan Chen. Kerrigan wore Wang for the 1992 and 1994 Winter Olympics, Kwan for the 1998 and 2002 Winter Olympics, Lysacek for the 2010 Winter Olympics, and Chen for the 2018 Winter Olympics. Wang was inducted into the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 2009 for her contribution to the sport as a costume designer. She"
"assailant was Shane Stant, contracted to break her right leg. Stant and his uncle, Derrick Smith, were hired for this assault by Harding's ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly, and her one-time bodyguard, Shawn Eckardt. After failing to find Kerrigan at her Massachusetts training rink, Stant had taken a 20-hour bus trip to Detroit. Nancy Kerrigan was walking behind a curtain to a corridor when Stant rushed behind her. Using both hands, he then swung a 21-inch ASP telescopic baton at her right leg, striking her above the knee. The intent was preventing her competing in both the National Championships (Kerrigan was the"
"six times: The show's highest rated episode was on February 23, 1994, after the 1994 Winter Olympics (78.8 million) with 15 million viewers. Its second highest rated show aired two days later and had 11.1 million viewers. Both were preceded by the ladies' figure skating competition which had high interest due to the attack on Nancy Kerrigan at the 1994 United States Figure Skating Championships by Tonya Harding's ex-husband, and both women competing in the event. In February 2013, TV by the Numbers reported ""Late Show"" averaged about 3.1 million per show in season-to-date live-plus-seven-day ratings. A year later, average"
"a segment during the show, she performed several jumps and spins. She trains with her former coach, Dody Teachman. Harding still receives criticism. However, her life, career, and role in the Kerrigan attack have been widely referenced in popular culture; appearing in television, film, music, as well as a primary campaign speech by former President Barack Obama. In 2014, Matt Harkins and Viviana Olen created the Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding Museum in their Brooklyn, New York, apartment, dedicated to collecting and archiving memorabilia related to Harding and the incident. Harkins and Olen stated in a 2017 interview that they"
"a letter dated November 25, 2005, that ""to allow Stant to have the attack removed from his record would not only be an insult to her, but it [also] would send the message that a crime like that can ultimately be swept under the rug"". Stant's request had already been denied by a judge, saying that it is against the law to expunge an assault conviction. Stant was 34 when he tried to remove the attack from his record. This attack was depicted in the 2017 film, ""I, Tonya"". The ladies single skating event of the 1994 Winter Olympics in"
"was featured in the November 7, 2015, episode of the television series, """", on the Oprah Winfrey Network. Thomas is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. Amateur career Professional career Debi Thomas Debra Janine Thomas (born March 25, 1967) is an American former figure skater and physician. She is the 1986 World champion, the 1988 Olympic bronze medalist, and a two-time U.S. national champion. Her rivalry with East Germany's Katarina Witt at the 1988 Calgary Olympics was known as the Battle of the Carmens. Thomas was born in Poughkeepsie, New York and grew up in San Jose, California. Her"
"retired from eligible competition—Kerrigan became United States champion, even though her performance was flawed. She admitted that she would have to improve her skating in time for the World Championships. She won the short program at the World Championships in Prague, but had a disastrous free skate that resulted in her tumbling to fifth in the standings. This was followed by an even worse performance at a televised pro-am event, where Kerrigan fell three times, botched the landing of another jump, and appeared dazed and depressed, losing to 1988 Olympian Caryn Kadavy. Before and after the 1992 Olympics, she had"
"been held for many years prior to being organized into a series as separate individual events. Following the Nancy Kerrigan attack in 1994, television coverage of skating was saturated with made-for-TV professional skating events, while the traditional ""amateur"" or ""eligible"" competitions were neglected. In order to remedy this situation, in 1995, the skating federations from the United States, Canada, Germany, France, and Japan began to plan their events as a series with cooperative marketing of the television rights in those countries, and with prize money funded by the sale of those rights. At this point, the International Skating Union stepped"
"her programs until she felt completely confident in her ability to compete under pressure. The fame she had acquired from the attack led to further opportunities; she was reported to have already signed endorsement contracts for $9.5 million before the Olympics began. Harding denied any involvement in the planning of the attack, but pleaded guilty to conspiring to hinder the prosecution. In late 2005, Kerrigan expressed objections to Shane Stant's wishes to have the attack removed from his record so he could join the Navy SEALs, which do not allow anyone with a felony conviction to join. Kerrigan stated in"
"Wang donated those two dresses to Kerrigan, the values of which were estimated at $9,600 and $13,000, respectively. Kerrigan retired from amateur competition after the Olympics. She appeared in a few professional competitions such as Ice Wars, but focused her career on performing in a variety of ice shows. She has appeared in ""Champions on Ice"", ""Broadway on Ice"", and an ice show adaptation of the musical ""Footloose"", among other productions. In 2003, Kerrigan became a national spokeswoman for Fight for Sight. In the 1994 TV movie ""Tonya and Nancy: The Inside Story"", she was portrayed by Heather Langenkamp. In"