Tonya Maxene Price (née Harding; born November 12, 1970) is an American former figure skater, retired boxer, and a reality television personality. Born in Portland, Oregon, Harding was raised primarily by her mother, who enrolled her in ice skating lessons beginning at four years old. Harding spent much of her early life training, eventually dropping out of high school to devote her time to the sport. After climbing the ranks in the U.S. Figure Skating Championships between 1986 and 1989, Harding won the 1989 Skate America competition. She became the 1991 and 1994 U.S. champion before being stripped of her 1994 title, and 1991 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). Harding is 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 her fellow U.S. skating rival Nancy Kerrigan. Both women then competed in the February 1994 Winter Olympics, where Kerrigan won the silver medal and Harding finished eighth. On March 16, 1994, Harding accepted a plea bargain in which she pleaded guilty to conspiracy to hinder prosecution. As a result of her involvement in the aftermath of the assault on Kerrigan, the United States Figure Skating Association banned her for life on June 30, 1994.
From 2003 to 2004, Harding competed as a professional boxer. Her life has been the subject of many books, films, documentaries, and academic studies. In 2014, two television documentaries were made about Harding's life and skating career (Nancy & Tonya and The Price of Gold), inspiring Steven Rogers to write the film I, Tonya in 2017, in which Harding was portrayed by Australian actress Margot Robbie. In 2018, she was a contestant on season 26 of Dancing with the Stars, finishing in third place. In 2019, she won season 16 of Worst Cooks in America: Celebrity Edition
Tonya Maxene Harding was born on November 12, 1970, in Portland, Oregon, to LaVona Golden (b. 1940) and Albert Harding (1933–2009). She was raised in East Portland and began skating at age three, training with coach Diane Rawlinson. During her youth, Harding also hunted, drag raced, and learned auto mechanics from her father. He held various odd jobs – managed apartments, drove a truck, and worked at a bait-and-tackle store, yet was often underemployed due to poor health. LaVona struggled to support the family while working as a waitress, and hand-sewed her daughter's skating costumes to save money. Harding's parents divorced after 19 years of marriage in 1987, when she was 16 years old. She later dropped out of Milwaukie High School during her sophomore year to focus on skating, and earned a General Educational Development (GED) Certificate in 1988.
Harding claimed she was frequently abused by her mother. She stated that by the time she was seven years old, physical and psychological abuse had become a regular part of her life. LaVona admitted to one instance of hitting Harding at an ice rink. In January 2018, Harding's childhood friend and filmmaker, Sandra Luckow, spoke in defense of Harding's mother because she felt that the 2017 film I, Tonya stretched some truths about LaVona's character. Luckow said that although Harding's mother could be "egregious" towards her daughter, LaVona funded and appreciated Harding's skating lessons, and had "a huge amount of humanity."
In Harding's 2008 authorized biography, The Tonya Tapes (written by Lynda D. Prouse from recorded interviews with Harding), she said she was the victim of acquaintance rape in 1991 and that her half-brother, Chris Davison, molested her on several occasions when she was a child. In 1986, Harding called the police after Davison had been sexually harassing and terrorizing her. He was arrested and spent a short time in prison. Harding said her parents were in denial about Davison's behavior and told her not to press criminal charges against him. Davison was killed in an unsolved vehicular hit-and-run accident in 1988. On May 3, 1994, during an interview with Rolonda Watts, Harding said that Davison was the only person in her life unworthy of forgiveness and "the only person I've ever hated."
Harding trained as a figure skater throughout her youth with coach Diane Rawlinson. In the mid-1980s, she began working her way up the competitive skating ladder. She placed sixth at the 1986 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, fifth in 1987 and 1988, and third in 1989. After competing in the February 1989 Nationals Championship, Harding began training with Dody Teachman as her coach. She then won the October 1989 Skate America competition, and was considered a strong contender at the February 1990 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. However, she was suffering from the flu and asthma and had a poor free skate. After the original program, she dropped from second place and finished seventh overall. Harding was a powerful free skater and typically had lower placements in the compulsory figures.
Harding's breakthrough year came in 1991 when, at the U.S. Championships, she completed her first triple Axel in competition on February 16 – the first American woman to execute the jump. She landed seven triple jumps in the long program including the triple Axel. She won the 1991 U.S. Ladies' Singles title with the event's first 6.0 technical merit score since Janet Lynn's 1973 performance at the U.S. Championships. She won the long program when seven of the nine judges gave her first place, and won the competition. She scored eight 5.9s and one 6.0 for technical merit and six 5.9s, one 5.8 and two 5.7s for composition and style. At the March 1991 World Championships, an international event, she again completed the triple Axel. Harding would finish second behind Kristi Yamaguchi, and in front of Nancy Kerrigan, marking the first time one country swept the ladies medal podium at the World Figure Skating Championships.
At the September 1991 Skate America competition, Harding recorded three more firsts:
- The first woman to complete a triple Axel in the short program
- The first woman to successfully execute two triple Axels in a single competition
- The first ever to complete a triple Axel in combination (with the double toe loop)
Despite these record-breaking performances, after 1991, Harding was never again able to successfully complete the triple Axel in competition; her competitive results began to decline. She and Dody Teachman had briefly parted ways in April 1991, but had reunited in June; Harding was still training under Teachman for the upcoming 1992 season. She placed third in the January 1992 U.S. Figure Skating Championships despite twisting her ankle during practice, and finished fourth in the February 1992 Winter Olympics. On March 1, 1992, Harding gave Teachman a summary dismissal and returned to Diane Rawlinson to be coached by her. On March 29 Harding placed sixth in the 1992 World Championships, although she had a better placement at the November 1992 Skate Canada International event finishing fourth.
In January 1994, Harding won the U.S. Championships but was later stripped away of her title: the USFSA disciplinary panel voted to vacate the title in June 1994, following an investigation of the attack on Nancy Kerrigan. In February 1994, Harding was permitted to remain a member of the U.S. Olympic ice skating team, despite brief legal controversy. In Lillehammer, after an issue with a broken skate lace in the long program, she was given a re-skate by the judges and finished in eighth place, behind Oksana Baiul (gold) and Nancy Kerrigan (silver). Despite her USFSA ban, however, she did later compete at the professional level, placing second at the ESPN Pro Skating Championship in 1999.
Assault at Cobo Arena / legal repercussions[edit[]
On January 6, 1994, one day before the U.S. Figure Skating Championship first Ladies' Singles competition, Nancy Kerrigan was attacked in a corridor after a practice session at the Detroit Cobo Arena. The aftermath of the attack was recorded on a news camera and broadcast around the world. The assailant was Shane Stant, contracted to break her right knee; he turned himself in to Phoenix FBI on January 14. Stant and his uncle, Derrick Smith, were hired for this assault by Harding's ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly, and her bodyguard Shawn Eckardt. After failing to find Kerrigan in Massachusetts, Stant had taken a 20-hour bus trip to Detroit. Nancy Kerrigan was walking behind a curtain when Stant rushed behind her. Using both hands, he swung a 21-inch (53 cm) ASP telescopic baton at her right leg, striking above her knee. The attack was intended to seriously injure Kerrigan so that she could not compete in the Nationals (Kerrigan was the defending 1993 Champion) nor 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. title; she and Kerrigan were then both selected for the 1994 Olympic team.
On January 11, Ann Schatz interviewed Harding for KOIN-TV in Portland, Oregon. Schatz asked Harding whether someone she knew could have planned the attack. Harding replied, "I have definitely thought about it." Gillooly stood in her view behind the camera during the interview. The interview ended with Harding saying, "No one controls my life but me...if there's something in there that I don't like, I'm going to change it." Harding also confirmed she had spoken with FBI agents in Detroit and again in Portland. On January 13, Eckardt and Smith were arrested. On January 14, the United States Figure Skating Association (USFSA) made a statement on whether Eckardt's arrest affected Harding's Olympic placement: "We will deal only with the facts." Harding and Gillooly's separate lawyers 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 lawyer held a news conference in which he read a statement denying Harding's involvement in the attack on Kerrigan. Harding left her home that evening to practice figure skating with her coaches, where she spoke with reporters and performed a triple Axel.
Harding's confession[]
On January 18, 1994, Harding was with her lawyers when she submitted to questioning by the DA and FBI. She was interviewed for over 10 hours. Eight hours into the interview, her lawyer read a statement declaring her separation from Jeff Gillooly: "I continue to believe that Jeff is innocent of any wrongdoing. I wish him nothing but the best". Her full FBI transcript was press released on February 1. The Seattle Times reported the transcript stating that Harding had "changed her story well into a long interview...After hours of denying any involvement in trying to cover up the plot, an FBI agent finally 'told [her] that he knew she had lied to him, that he would tell her exactly how she had lied to him'." In the transcript's final passage, Harding stated "I hope everyone understands. I'm telling on someone I really care about. I know now [Jeff] is involved. I'm sorry." On January 19, Jeff Gillooly surrendered to the FBI. On January 20, Diane Sawyer asked Harding on Primetime about the case. Harding said she had done nothing wrong. On January 27, it was reported Gillooly had been testifying about the attack plot since January 26; possibly implicating Harding as allegedly assisting. Harding's close friend Stephanie Quintero, with whom she was living, spoke to reporters on her behalf: "[Tonya] was shocked, very hurt…She was believing in [Jeff]." Harding later held an 11 a.m. press conference to read a prepared statement. She said she was sorry Nancy Kerrigan was attacked, that she respected Nancy, and claimed not to know in advance of the plot to disable her. Harding took responsibility "for failing to report things [about the assault] when I returned home from Nationals [on January 10]...failure to immediately report this information is not a crime." Many states’ laws, including Oregon's, certify that the act of concealing criminal knowledge alone is not a crime.
The attack on Kerrigan received a substantial amount of publicity and news media crews camped outside her home. In January 1994, the story was on the covers of Sports Illustrated, Newsweek, and TIME. There was now much speculation about Harding's alleged involvement in the assault plot. Because Harding and Kerrigan would be representing the U.S. in the February Lillehammer Olympics, speculation 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 interview.
From wikipedia, Tonya Harding at 7:47 am, December 14th.