Tonya Harding interview

[Query]

A TV show called Inside Edition just interviewed Tonya Harding. (See Background, below.)

http://www.insideedition.com/news.aspx?storyID=2714

She was coaching a fairly newbie skater.

She skated like an adult who recently started skating again, after an athletic skating childhood. She looked much older and was shown doing a single rotation jump and an imperfect spin.

She denied complicity in the attack, but she helped cover it up.

Age and fame have been much kinder to Nancy Kerrigan than to her.

---

Background:

Her ex-husband hired someone to attack Nancy Kerrigan shortly before they competed at the 1994 Olympics. The scandal made figure skating more popular for many years.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonya_Harding says

On June 30, 1994, after conducting its own investigation of the attack, the USFSA stripped Harding of her 1994 title and banned her for life from participating in USFSA-run events as either a skater or a coach. The USFSA concluded that Harding knew about the attack before it happened and displayed "a clear disregard for fairness, good sportsmanship and ethical behavior."

Perhaps because she sued to let her skate at the Olympics instead of coming to a hearing about it. Frivolous law suits are evil, so they may have done the right thing, whether or not she was guilty.

But it is still sad to see such a one time fabulous skater come to such a state.

[Isk8NYC]

Every year around the time of Nats and Worlds, the media starts looking for her. She never comes across nicely, either. I don't understand why she doesn't just refuse the interviews.

I thought she was still boxing; didn't know she was coaching. Wonder if her skating ban also applies to coaching? Hmmmm....

Here's the text from Inside Edition's website:

Tonya Harding is back on the ice, not to compete but to teach young girls how to skate.

When INSIDE EDITION caught up with Harding, she was in the middle of a lesson with a 10-year-old who wasn't even born when America was shocked by the knee-capping attack on figure skater Nancy Kerrigan just one month before the 1994 Winter Olympics. The attack has forever been linked to Kerrigan's chief rival Tonya Harding.

In an INSIDE EDITION exclusive, Harding reveals how the incident 15 years ago still haunts her today.

Harding says one of the biggest misconceptions people have about the attack on Kerrigan is that she did it. "Obviously I didn't…I mean I was asleep when this happened to Nancy. I have to live with this for the rest of my life."

Harding was never charged and prosecutors said her then husband Jeff Gillooly was the mastermind, hiring a bodyguard to whack Kerrigan's kneecap. But, Harding admitted involvement in the cover-up and pled guilty to hindering the investigation. She got probation and community service.

Harding says today she still fights the misconception that she was the one who clubbed Kerrigan.

Even President Barack Obama referenced skating's bad girl when addressing a crowd during his presidential campaign. "All the pundits say his only chance is he's got to knee cap her…he's got to do a Tonya Harding on the frontrunner."

Harding says the comment bothered her a lot. "Here we have someone who is trying to be the President of the U.S. and out of everyone in the entire world, he brings up my name. It really upset me."

What brings Harding joy is training young skaters how to be future ice queens, but because of the Kerrigan scandal Harding is not allowed to train any skater who plans on entering competition.

Though she may look older than her 38 years, Harding is still at home on the ice. She pulls off jumps with ease and completes dozens of dazzling spins for INSIDE EDITION cameras.

"This is who I am," says Harding.

[Query]

I thought she was still boxing; didn't know she was coaching. Wonder if her skating ban also applies to coaching? Hmmmm....

Boxing may not be good for a figure skater's body.

Did only the USFSA ban her? Perhaps she can compete and coach in anyone else's events. If Michelle Kwan can try to make a come-back, why not her?

I can imagine she might be a good coach, but some parents might feel like keeping watch. We know some parents like coaches who maintain discipline. Using a whip to mark skating patterns could help.

I know many adults who would take a lesson or two out of curiosity.

Remember the James Bond movie where a crime lord retains a Russian coach to teach a young skater? Would she be right at home in Wall Street right now? Perhaps you can invite her to coach with you. :twisted: Bet no one would make a move on her students.

You have a point about TV. She should use interviews to attract customers, and skip tabloid TV.

Cheers.

[Isk8NYC]

Did only the USFSA ban her? Perhaps she can compete and coach in anyone else's events. Oddly enough, I opened my new issue of Professional Skater (PS) Magazine from the PSA and found a full-page "Banned List."

Ms. Harding was listed along with others as having a "lifetime ban." The heading legalese reads:


Be advised that the following persons have been disciplined under U.S. Figure Skating Bylaw Article XXV and have been suspended or banned from U.S. Figure Skating membership. These persons should not be credentialed, nor permitted to coach in any U.S. Figure Skating sponsored or sanctioned activity including but not limited to participating in qualifying or nonqualifying competitions, test, carnivals and exhibitions.


Maybe her student was not a member of the USFSA? (ISI only or another country?)

ETA: Ahhh, the student was a beginner. I guess she can coach as long as the student doesn't want to enter anything under the USFSA's umbrella. Then again, they can always list someone else as the main coach.

[icedancer2]

Reading the article it's hard to say where she is - I can't imagine her leaving the Portland/Vancouver area, but the rink in the photos only looks vaguely familiar...

And I haven't heard about her teaching at any of the area rinks... or seen her around, although her ex-coaches are still teaching so maybe they are helping her out.

[AgnesNitt]

Maybe the whole thing was a setup for an interview. Maybe as time has gone on, the rancor against her has faded. Nancy Kerrigan for all her talent did not turn out to be the delicate Ice Princess of everyone's imagination (This is the most corniest [sic] thing I have ever done." and here (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/sports/longterm/olympics1998/history/timeline/articles/time_030494.htm) from 94 shows cracks in the NK facade). I've even read that there are people who thought that Tonya was given a bad deal--she deserved a ban, but not a life time ban.

It's 15 years on, she's led a rough life, everyone's heard how she's tried to make a living and failed, and tried again, and failed. Yet she keeps picking herself up and resilient tries again. She's not smart, and she's not classy, maybe you wouldn't want her as a friend or coach, but if the American public can forgive others, maybe they can forgive her.

[Isk8NYC]

I actually HEARD Pres. Obama make the reference to Harding on the news, but I didn't think anything of it at the time.
I guess it has become larger than life.