Remembering the Attack on Nancy Kerrigan 25 years ago

[meggonzo]

New Phil Hersh article on what else:
https://olympics.nbcsports.com/2019...oQIM44555pENKA3AYOiwXZIx6XJBQQ7sLxs9FxVQIJ0jo

 

[Carolla5501]

New Phil Hersh article on what else:
https://olympics.nbcsports.com/2019...oQIM44555pENKA3AYOiwXZIx6XJBQQ7sLxs9FxVQIJ0jo

I do wonder why they decided to go back to Detroit on the 25th anniversary. They’re just asking for this kind of article to be written by every media source

 

[Frau Muller]

New Phil Hersh article on what else:
https://olympics.nbcsports.com/2019...oQIM44555pENKA3AYOiwXZIx6XJBQQ7sLxs9FxVQIJ0jo

Very good recap article. I had forgotten about all of the interesting side stories at those Nationals (Zayak et al).

 

[Vash01]

Oh No! Not again! I am so sick of reading about this. I decided not to read the article. Thanks for posting the link though.

 

[Limonite]

The attack on Nancy Kerrigan was what introduced me to figure skating. Before that the only name I knew in the sport was Katarina Witt, and that was it. I remember the coverage of the Nancy/Tonya saga the weeks before Lillehammer was insane.

 

[Inessence]

Oh No! Not again! I am so sick of reading about this. I decided not to read the article. Thanks for posting the link though.

It’s an interesting retrospective.With remembrances from Brian Boitano, Michelle Kwan, Zayak, and others. Even I learned a couple new things.

 

[Carolla5501]

Oh No! Not again! I am so sick of reading about this. I decided not to read the article. Thanks for posting the link though.

I expect a ton of reminders. Won’t be surprised if NBC does something during Nationals

 

[Frau Muller]

What younger folks don’t realize is that this story was on TV almost 24/7 between Nationals and Olympics. I had several linear feet of tv tapes devoted to this...from morning & other news spots, to the daytime talk shows, to CNN prime time to the Sunday morning hard-news shows like Face the Nation...with Scott, Kristi, etc in constant demand as expert analysts on the cable shows. It would be “BREAKING NEWS” whenever Tonya had a practice at the shopping mall arena. CBS correspondent Connie Chung basically staked herself to Tonya...”Connie Chung’s Eye to Eye”...remember that? ROTFL!

 

[alchemy void]

I do wonder why they decided to go back to Detroit on the 25th anniversary. They’re just asking for this kind of article to be written by every media source

As Jason Dungjen says in the article: “At this point, any press is good press.”

I, Tonya won an academy award last year, the Olympics were last year, so this is the most attention figure skating has received in quite some time in the USA. Seems like a rather savvy (albeit rare) move on the part of the USFS to try to get a little bit more press coverage out of of nationals.

 

[Skittl1321]

I do wonder why they decided to go back to Detroit on the 25th anniversary. They’re just asking for this kind of article to be written by every media source

Probably exactly for this reason. Most publications looking to fill space will cover the fact that nationals exist. Something that hasn't happened in a non-Olympic year for a long time.

 

[Yazmeen]

I remember reading a story years ago about how Zayak came back in 1994 to skate on her own terms with no thoughts of medals, etc. Interesting now to read that she came back because she looked at how Tonya and Nancy were skating in 1993 and thought "this is the best we have????"

 

[Finsta]

I remember reading a story years ago about how Zayak came back in 1994 to skate on her own terms with no thoughts of medals, etc. Interesting now to read that she came back because she looked at how Tonya and Nancy were skating in 1993 and thought "this is the best we have????"

Not a very nice comment for her to make. In the end she places behind them and the very young Kwan and Bobek. Maybe that teaches her something about being humble

 

[skatesindreams]

I'm sorry that this will give more attention to Tonya!

 

[azcalder]

A friend and I were in Cobo for the entire ladies practice, including when the attack took place. We were sitting above where Nancy left the ice, put on her skate guards and went through the curtain toward the dressing rooms. We couldn’t see the area, but certainly heard the scream. We were kept inside the facility – missing some of the pairs technical programs.

 

[Tinami Amori]

Not a very nice comment for her to make. In the end she places behind them and the very young Kwan and Bobek. Maybe that teaches her something about being humble

One does not need to be humble, it's ok to be confident and to think highly of oneself, just don't insult and put down other competitors..
Saying about other skaters "this is the best we have????" is a put-down. If she said "I feel confident that i can compete against and am stronger than the current ladies" would be blunt, but not insulting.

 

[Sylvia]

Is that an exact quote, @Yazmeen? Never mind, from Hersh's article linked in post #1:

At 28, Zayak was four and a half years older than anyone else in the women’s event (Kerrigan, 24, was next oldest). A decade had passed since her last “amateur,” or OIympic-style, competition, a sixth place at the 1984 Olympics and a third at the 1984 world championships.
Zayak said this week she had decided to return to the sport because the erratic skating she saw from Kerrigan and Harding at 1993 nationals made her think, “Is this really all we have for the Olympics?”
As an amateur, she was, like Harding, famed for her jumping, which included Zayak’s unprecedented six triple jumps at the 1982 worlds. Because four were the same jump, a triple toe loop, the ISU soon passed the “Zayak Rule,” limiting triple jump repetitions to one of each type, and one of those repeated triples needed to be in a jump combination.

I found this article about 1994 Nationals that was reprinted in 2014: https://www.oregonlive.com/tonya-harding/2014/01/tonya_harding-nancy_kerrigan_t.html

The darkhorses in the women's competition -- and a couple of the more intriguing stories at the championships -- are 13-year-old Michelle Kwan and 28-year-old Elaine Zayak, the 1982 world champion who decided to come back after watching last year's national championships.
When she became the youngest senior skater as a 12-year-old in the 1993 nationals, Kwan and her coach said she was aiming at the 1998 Olympics. Now, the tiny dynamo with the consistent jumps has moved her plans back four years.
Zayak has no pretensions of making the team, and said she probably would turn down a spot even if she did qualify so that another skater could have the experience she had in 1984.

 

[Yazmeen]

Is that an exact quote, @Yazmeen?

I found this article about 1994 Nationals that was reprinted in 2014: https://www.oregonlive.com/tonya-harding/2014/01/tonya_harding-nancy_kerrigan_t.html

@Sylvia The story that I heard sold was Elaine just wanting to come back and do her best with no thoughts of medals I remember reading one story that said she had a drawer full of them, that wasn't the point for her return, just wish I could remember where that was from. It also described her darker days where her coaches were pushing her to lose weight to the point that the rink cafe owner told her he was only allowed to sell her coffee on their orders - if anyone else remembers and can help here.

It's just this quote in Hersh's article: "Zayak said this week she had decided to return to the sport because the erratic skating she saw from Kerrigan and Harding at 1993 nationals made her think, “Is this really all we have for the Olympics?” This makes it sound like she was a bit more serious about medals and getting a high placement, even if she had no intention of making the Olympics.

Also, it seems that Brian Boitano was set to be the official magazine cover poster skater for 94 until the whack.

 

[StasiyaGalustyanLove]

This women has done more to damage are World then Ossama Been Law Den, Satan, the man whom founded Hole Foods and Obama combined! Throw her in the slammer do not write more article's about her. This is not journalism, you want to see journalism in it's "real" form read Mens Fitness. At least I can say I read it for the articles not just the fotos.

Taking Nationals back to Detroit this year, is a slap in the face to every-one who's life has been ruined by Tonia---- Nancy, Scott, Dick, Peter, Connie Chung, ect. Between this and her worst food show with the man with the albino hare, are planet may not survive 2019.

 

[overedge]

@Sylvia The story that I heard sold was Elaine just wanting to come back and do her best with no thoughts of medals I remember reading one story that said she had a drawer full of them, that wasn't the point for her return, just wish I could remember where that was from. It also described her darker days where her coaches were pushing her to lose weight to the point that the rink cafe owner told her he was only allowed to sell her coffee on their orders - if anyone else remembers and can help here.

@Yazmeen and @Sylvia This was all in Joan Ryan's book "Pretty Girls in Little Boxes". I was just looking at that book because I remembered it making a reference to a gymnastics "trainer" sneaking fruit and healthy food into the hotel rooms of US women gymnasts, when the Karolyis were in charge of the US team and controlling what the gymnasts could eat. In retrospect, with the information that's come out since, I think that trainer was probably Larry Nassar

 

[overedge]

Not a very nice comment for her to make. In the end she places behind them and the very young Kwan and Bobek. Maybe that teaches her something about being humble

To place fourth at US Nationals, without having competed for almost ten years, and with the depth of talent in US ladies at that time, is a stunning accomplishment. She doesn't have to be humble about that.

 

[Finsta]

To place fourth at US Nationals, without having competed for almost ten years, and with the depth of talent in US ladies at that time, is a stunning accomplishment. She doesn't have to be humble about that.

That your opinion. My comment was about her insulting the top 2 saying is that all we’ve got, and then placing 4th. Even behind Kwan and Bobek. That should’ve humbled her

 

[Vash01]

This is a very good article (I did read it eventually). It gives details that I either did not know or had forgotten. I do remember Elaine Zayak's LP skate. I was rooting hard for her to make the team.

 

[SpeedySucks]

That your opinion. My comment was about her insulting the top 2 saying is that all we’ve got, and then placing 4th. Even behind Kwan and Bobek. That should’ve humbled her

1993 U.S. Nationals was a horribly skated event. Lisa Ervin was 2nd with a triple loop as her most difficult triple. There is no reason why Elaine shouldn’t have thought that she could be competitive in 1994 with her content since it was basically the same that Ervin was doing in 1993. I also don’t think it’s insulting for her to say that she thought the U.S. ladies field was weak in 1993, because it was.

 

[overedge]

That your opinion. My comment was about her insulting the top 2 saying is that all we’ve got, and then placing 4th. Even behind Kwan and Bobek. That should’ve humbled her

She placed one place below them. That shows she was competitive with them. Maybe she should have been humbled if she said or thought that and then ended up somewhere around 17th. But that's not what happened.

 

[Barbara Manatee]

Zayak spoke and acted appropriately at the time and afterwards. She competed, she lost, and she accepted the results wih grace. I don't feel she's being rude by admitting to her inner thoughts 25 years later. I doubt that Nancy will feel insulted to hear that Elaine came back because she thought she could do better at the Olympics.

 

[meggonzo]

That your opinion. My comment was about her insulting the top 2 saying is that all we’ve got, and then placing 4th. Even behind Kwan and Bobek. That should’ve humbled her

She still managed to beat Lisa Ervin and Tonia Kwiatkowski!

 

[bardtoob]

Not a very nice comment for her to make. In the end she places behind them and the very young Kwan and Bobek. Maybe that teaches her something about being humble

Did you watch 1993 Nationals? It was bad. The only one worth watching was 12 year old Kwan.

http://www.frogsonice.com/skateweb/reports/1993-us-nationals.shtml

https://youtu.be/htevMS0Vnyc

 

[VGThuy]

I bet Elaine wasn’t alone thinking that but she was the only to lace up those skates to put her money where her mouth was. She had a good chance of winning if Kerrigan and Harding replicated their 1993 skates in 1994. I doubt she would have thought that at all if Harding skated on the level of her 1994 nationals skate and if Kerrigan skated on the level of her 1994 Olympic skate.

 

[Debbie S]

@Yazmeen and @Sylvia This was all in Joan Ryan's book "Pretty Girls in Little Boxes". I was just looking at that book because I remembered it making a reference to a gymnastics "trainer" sneaking fruit and healthy food into the hotel rooms of US women gymnasts, when the Karolyis were in charge of the US team and controlling what the gymnasts could eat. In retrospect, with the information that's come out since, I think that trainer was probably Larry Nassar

Yikes, I read the book (and remember the stories about Elaine) but I had forgotten that detail. Although...the book came out in 1995 (I think) and I don't think Nassar started working with the team until 1995 or 1996, so maybe it was someone else.

On the subject of Elaine, I remember reading an article in my paper (probably a wire service article) that week, probably a day or two before The Whack, and there was a quote from Elaine that she wouldn't accept an Oly spot even if she finished in the top 2, that her goal was just to be in the top 6 after the SP so she could be in the FS group shown on live TV.

 

[skatfan]

I expect a ton of reminders. Won’t be surprised if NBC does something during Nationals

I wonder if the Federation will allow them to mention the name Tonya Harding. They did everything possible last year to avoid saying her name, including the omission of Sarah Kawhara as the choreographer for I Tonya in her Hall of Fame bio!