tonya harding

Tonya Maxene[1] Harding (born November 12, 1970) is an American figure skating champion. In 1991 she won the U.S. Figure Skating Championships and placed second in the World Championships. She was the second woman, and the first American woman, to complete a triple axel jump in competition.

She became notorious after her ex-husband Jeff Gillooly conspired with Shawn Eckhardt[2] and Shane Stant to attack competitor Nancy Kerrigan at a practice session during the 1994 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. Contents [hide] 1 Early life 2 Skating career 2.1 Series of incidents 3 The Kerrigan attack 4 Later celebrity 5 Boxing career 5.1 Boxing record 6 Popular culture references 7 Other media appearances 8 Figure skating competitive highlights 9 Images 10 References 11 External links //

Early life

Harding was born in Portland, Oregon, the daughter of LaVona and Al Harding. She had a half-brother named Chris Davison (deceased). Harding claims that her mother physically abused her, a claim denied by her mother.[3] Harding began skating at an early age. She landed her first triple lutz at age 12. Her mother made many of her skating costumes.

She stopped attending David Douglas High School during her sophomore year, and later earned a GED; she had started receiving assignments to international skating competitions while she was still in junior high school.

She married Jeff Gillooly in 1990, when she was 19 years old. Their tumultuous marriage ended in divorce in 1993, when she was 22 years old.[4]

Skating career

Harding began to work her way up the competitive skating ladder in the mid-1980s. She placed 6th at the 1986 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, 5th in 1987 and 1988, and 3rd in 1989. She was considered a strong contender at the 1990 U.S. Figure Skating Championships after having won Skate America 1989, but she had a poor free skate as a result of suffering from the flu and asthma, and dropped from 2nd place after the original program to finish 7th overall. Harding was a powerful jumper and spinner, but performed the compulsory figures less well.

1991 was Harding's breakthrough year. She landed her first triple axel in competition at the U.S. Championships, winning the title with the event's first 6.0 ever given to a female single skater for technical merit. She competed well at the World Championships, but finished second to Kristi Yamaguchi. She again completed the triple axel during her long program at the World Championships, becoming the first American woman to do so. In her career, Harding landed four triple axels in competition, all of them in 1991 where she completed every one she tried: one at the U.S. Championships, one at