First viewed : February 1994
This tournament will always be remembered for the extraordinary media explosion around the "Skategate" saga.
To recap, the American figure skater Nancy Kerrigan , a genuine medal contender , was clubbed on the knee by a mysterious assailant just before the National Championships which would determine for the Winter Olympic team. The man was soon traced back to the husband of her nearest rival, Tonya Harding, who had won the Championship in Kerrigan's absence, and his clownish buddy Shawn Eckhardt, an obese fantasist who believed it would boost demand for his bodyguarding operation. The still-unanswered question was whether Harding was in on the plot or not. She strenuously denied it and threatened the skating authorities with a million dollar lawsuit if they denied her a place on the team.
The saga created an unbelievable media-fest in the USA. The venerable journalist, Alistair Cooke, commented that he'd seen nothing like it since the Kennedy assassination. What gave the story such traction was the contrast between the two girls. Kerrigan was a tall, elegant performer from a stable working class family in Detroit who attracted generous sponsorship. Harding was small and muscular and won competitions because at her best she was capable of pulling off jumps that were normally the preserve of male skaters. She was from a broken home in Portland, smoked heavily and had a talent for rubbing people up the wrong way, meaning she had to scratch around for sponsors. This "Beauty and the Beast" scenario had an irresistible appeal and everyone took sides. I instinctively went for the underdog and hoped Harding could prove her innocence.
The injury turned out not to be serious; the assailant later claimed he'd pulled his punch at the last moment and Kerrigan was allowed to compete in Lilliehammer. The world's media descended on a practice session where the two team-mates studiously ignored each other. In the actual tournament, Harding put in a mediocre performance after creating a bit of drama over a broken lace. Kerrigan's performance, in a Persil-white dress, was near-flawless but she was beaten to gold by a Ukrainian skater, a decision she didn't take with good grace.Snow White was starting to reveal a rather sour personality behind the veneer. Here in the UK, some of the attention was deflected by the return to competition of Torvill and Dean though they had to be content with a bronze medal.
After the tournament, Kerrigan headed to Disneyland on a lucrative contract, almost immediately tarnishing her image on a parade by informing Mickey Mouse that "This is the corniest thing I have ever done". Harding , by contrast , had a date with the District Attorney and eventually pleaded guilty to hindering the prosecution of her husband and Eckhardt for which she was fined and sentenced to community service. The skating authorities immediately banned her for life. Two months later, the spotlight was wrenched away from them by a certain American football ( so-called ) legend but we'll come to that.
The two girls did appear together on a TV special some years later and appeared reasonably friendly. Kerrigan should forgive Harding because she's the ultimate profiteer from misfortune. Without the attack, she'd now be a near- anonymous sports coach whereas, nearly 25 years later , she still enjoys instant name-recognition and a lucrative career in ice shows. Though her ventures into singing, acting and boxing were largely unfruitful and she's largely worked in blue collar jobs in Oregon, Harding too continues to benefit from the abiding fascination with the case. Earlier this year, she enjoyed a little triumph over her old rival by doing better in Dancing with the Stars than Kerrigan had the year before.
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