Between I, Tonya and the recent ABC News special, “Truth and Lies: The Tonya Harding Story,” the story of Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan is back in the spotlight, some 24 years after “the whack heard around the world.” Below, a timeline of one of sport's biggest scandals, from Harding’s crowning achievement that was the triple axel to whether or not Kerrigan has seen the movie.
February 1991: Harding becomes the first U.S. woman to ever land the triple axel during the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Minneapolis, where she is also crowned national champion. The following month, Harding would also become the first U.S. woman to execute the triple axel at an international event, the 1991 World Championships in Munich.
February 1992: Kerrigan wins bronze at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France, behind Japan's Midori Ito (silver) and fellow U.S. teammate Kristi Yamaguchi (gold). Harding finishes in fourth.
Jan. 4, 1994: While en route to Detroit for the 1994 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Harding tells the media, “I’m going to go there and kick some butt.”
Jan. 6, 1994: A man later identified as Shane Stant whacks Kerrigan on the right leg after practice at Cobo Hall in Detroit. The injury forces Kerrigan to drop out of the U.S. National Championships, which Harding would win two days later. Despite the injury, the U.S. Figure Skating Association (USFSA) grants Kerrigan a spot on the national team. In the now-famous news clip of Kerrigan following the attack, she can be heard saying, “Why? Why? Why? Why me?” through tears.
In an ABC interview conducted days after the attack, Kerrigan says she’s counting her blessings: “That was one bad guy and I’m sure there’s others. These kinds of things happened before in other sports, but not everybody’s like that. And most people are worried about me and wondering what happened. Those are the people I want to tell that I’m OK. That’s not the most important thing, skating. If I can’t [skate], I’ll deal with it. I’m OK. It could have been a lot worse.”
According to Harding in 2014’s The Price of Gold, ESPN’s 30 for 30 documentary about the scandal, she was sleeping when she found out about the attack. “My coach woke me up and told me. I had a practice later on. I was scared to death, being out on that ice because nobody was caught.”
Jan. 11, 1994: The FBI launches an investigation on Harding’s bodyguard, Shawn Eckhardt, and her husband, Jeff Gillooly, after a Portland minister claims of hearing a tape of the two discussing “the hit” with Stant. As The Oregonian reported at the time, the minister, Eugene C. Saunders, told investigators that Eckhardt was the one who played the tape for him.
The next day, Eckhardt confesses to the FBI, implicating Gillooly, Stant, and Derreck B. Smith, who drove the getaway car. Eckhardt and Smith are arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit second-degree assault. That same week, Stant turns himself into the FBI in Phoenix and is charged with conspiring to assault Kerrigan.
In a 2013 Bleacher Report story about the attack, it’s revealed that the original plan was for Stant to “slice” Kerrigan’s Achilles tendon. “Stant said no. He wouldn’t cut anybody,” according to the report. “They settled on injuring the person enough so she could not skate.”
Jan. 16, 1994: Kerrigan is seen practicing in Boston; the practice is her first since the injury. In 2017, speaking to 60 Minutes Australia, Kerrigan described how lucky she was despite the injury: “I was hit right above my kneecap, if I was hit just a little below, my kneecap would have been shattered, just a little above, the whole muscle would have been calcified… I had no idea how bad it was, I had on slacks. My knee could fill the slack. I couldn’t walk on it for a couple weeks. It was very traumatic.”
Jan. 19, 1994: Gillooly turns himself into the FBI after an arrest warrant is issued. Harding continues to deny any involvement in Kerrigan’s attack. Two days later, Harding is seen practicing at the Clackamas Town Center in Portland.
Jan. 27, 1994: Gillooly confesses to the FBI and implicates himself, Harding, Eckhardt, Smith, and Stant. At a press conference at the Multnomah County Athletic Club in Portland, Harding admits that she failed to tell authorities about what she knew about the attack but maintains that she did not have a role in it. “I had no part in the planned assault on Nancy Kerrigan. I am responsible, however, for failing to report things I learned about the assault when I returned home from nationals." She adds, “Despite my mistakes and rough edges, I have done nothing to violate the standards of excellence in sportsmanship that are expected in an Olympic athlete."
Feb. 1, 1994: Gillooly testifies against Harding and pleads guilty to racketeering in exchange for a two-year sentence. An employee at Dockside Saloon and Restaurant in Portland discovers Gillooly and Harding’s trash, including an envelope with notes containing information about Kerrigan’s practice arena in Massachusetts. A handwriting expert later testified that most of the notes were written by Harding. (via PEOPLE)
Feb. 25, 1994: Kerrigan recovers in time to skate at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer and would go on to win silver. Harding, who was granted a restart due to an issue with her shoelaces, would not medal.
In an unfortunate media moment, Kerrigan is captured on microphone reacting to the delay in her medal ceremony. After being mistakenly told that gold medalist Oksana Baiul of Ukraine was causing the delay because she was re-doing her makeup, Kerrigan said, “Oh, come on. So she’s going to get out here and cry again. What’s the difference?” She later cleared the air: “I was afraid the crowd was losing its enthusiasm and was starting to leave. It was not meant as a slight toward Oksana.”
In an interview with Pat O’Brien following the event, Kerrigan says she’s not disappointed in the results. “I skated great. Considering where I was a month and a half ago. It’s unbelievable how I skated. To be able to keep focused that length of time in the program… I skated clean.” On Harding’s restart, Nancy offers this: “From the reaction I watched it’s just like, Again? Just, it happens every time. You know, something.”
March 4, 1994: Kerrigan has yet another unfortunate media moment, this time at the Disney World parade in Florida. Microphones pick up the figure skater complaining about the festivities. “This is so corny. This is so dumb. I hate it. This is the most corny thing I’ve ever done.” She later tells reporters that she was referring to her mother’s insistence on wearing her silver medal during the parade. Disney also defends her: “Nancy Kerrigan is not perfect. The Walt Disney company doesn’t associate people who are perfect.”
March 16, 1994: Harding pleads guilty to conspiracy to hinder prosecution. She is placed on a three-year probation and ordered to serve 500 hours of community service and pay a $160,000 fine. Harding is also forced to withdraw from the 1994 World Figure Skating Championships in Japan, which she previously qualified for.
May 16, 1994: Smith and Stant plead guilty and are sentenced to 18 months.
June 30, 1994: Harding is stripped of her 1994 National Figure Skating title and banned for life from U.S. Figure Skating Association. The ban also forbids Harding from being a coach in any capacity under the USFSA.
July 11, 1994: Eckhardt is sentenced to 18 months in; he would be released four months early in September 1995. Two days later, Gillooly is sentenced to two years in jail and fined $100,000 for racketeering.
September 1994: Gillooly sells a sex tape he made with Harding titled “Wedding Video,” which features Harding in a wedding dress costume (and not her real dress). Penthouse magazine would also publish stills from the video.
Dec. 24, 1994: Harding appears as Mrs. Claus at the Clackamas Town Center during her first public skating performance since the Olympics and the trial.
March 14, 1995: Gillooly, who has since changed his name to Jeff Stone, is released from Oregon Summit prison boot camp. Over the next six months, the rest of the group would be released from prison.
Feb. 1998: Fox airs the first-ever face-to-face interview between Harding and Kerrigan since the scandal. On “Breaking The Ice,” Harding says, “Nancy, I want to apologize again for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I say that from the bottom of my heart. I really do.”
March 13, 2002: Harding fights Paula Jones on Fox’s Celebrity Boxing. Harding would make her pro boxing debut one month later.
April 2009: Harding appears on The Oprah Winfrey Show and reveals her biggest regret, “Being married for the first time to an idiot. Second time.” She adds, “I wish growing up I would have had a more stable life. My parents, I’m sure they tried the best they could. But putting me on the right path, teaching me the ways of life, things like that.”
June 23, 2010: Harding marries Joseph Jens Price. At 40, she would give birth to her son, Gordon, in February 2011.
March 2017: Kerrigan competes on season 24 of Dancing With the Stars and is paired with Russian-American professional dancer Artem Chigvintsev. Kerrigan’s season would end two months later with a double elimination, which also saw the exit of Bachelor alum Nick Viall and Peta Murgatroyd.
April 2017: Speaking to ABC News, Kerrigan says she’s never received a direct apology from Harding about the 1994 incident. “Does it matter? At this point?”
July 2017: In an interview with 60 Minutes Australia, Kerrigan agrees that she was a better skater than Harding at the time of the incident in 1994. “Uh, yeah, overall. I think more rounded. I had powerful jumps but also, and I would say more consistent, more graceful.” Looking back at the attack, Kerrigan says that she was “definitely” willing to give Harding the benefit of the doubt. “I was hearing rumors of that before it was ever reported, by people in the skating community. I thought they were crazy.” Of Harding’s win at the 1994 U.S. National Championships, Harding says, “As an athlete, I mean, I’d rather get a lower placement and have someone beat me because they were great. I wouldn’t win by default.” According to Kerrigan, Harding has never really apologized. “I think she may think she has but, I mean, she has said things like, ‘I’m sorry that happened to her,’ but strangers have said that to me. It’s not really owning up to her part in any way to me directly.”
September 8, 2017: I, Tonya premieres at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival, where NEON picks up U.S. distribution rights for the film.
Dec. 5, 2017: Harding joins actress Margot Robbie on the red carpet at the Los Angeles premiere of I, Tonya. Four days later, the film would receive three Golden Globe nominations, including Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy.
Jan. 7, 2018: Harding joins the cast of I, Tonya at the 2018 Golden Globe Awards in Los Angeles, where Allison Janney wins her first-ever Globe for Best Supporting Actress. In her acceptance speech, Janney, who plays Harding’s mom LaVona Golden in the film, thanks Harding for sharing her story. "What this movie did is tell a story about class in America, tell a story about the disenfranchised, tell the story about a woman who was not embraced for her individuality, tell a story about truth and the perception of truth in the media and truths we all tell ourselves.”
Jan. 10, 2018: In a New York Times profile, Harding reveals she now goes by her married name, Tonya Price, and that she keeps busy these days raising her son Gordon, hunting with a bow and arrow, and occasionally skating. (Harding’s felony charges prohibit her from owning a gun.)
Jan. 11, 2018: Speaking to The Boston Globe, Kerrigan says she has not seen I, Tonya and what’s more, she has no intention of commenting on Harding’s recent return to the spotlight. “Not right now. I really have nothing to say about it. I haven’t seen anything. I haven’t watched anything… I’ve been busy. I was at the national championships this week so I didn’t watch the Golden Globes. I haven’t seen the movie. I’m just busy living my life.” When the columnist Dan Shaughnessy tries for a comment again, Kerrigan says, “At this point, it’s just so much easier and better to just be… it’s not really part of my life. As you say, I was the victim. Like, that’s my role in this whole thing. That’s it. It is weird, that’s for sure. A bizarre thing. The whole thing was crazy, being that it’s a story. I mean, come on.”
Meanwhile, ABC News airs “Truth and Lies: The Tonya Harding Story,” featuring interviews with Harding, Gillooly, and others. In the special, Harding says of her so-called bodyguard Shawn Eckhardt, “No bodyguard, are you kidding me? He’s dumb as a post.” She also reveals that she heard Gillooly and Eckhardt “talking about stuff” prior to the 1994 attack on Kerrigan. “I remember telling them, I go, ‘What the hell are you talking about? I can skate!’” Of Kerrigan, Harding says they were never rivals: “[We were] competitors. Yes. Rivals? No. Any of us could have won, any of us could have failed.”
![easy a los angeles premiere arrivals](https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod/images/emma-stone-and-taylor-swift-arrive-to-the-easy-a-los-news-photo-1709656106.jpg?crop=0.780xw:0.539xh;0.0865xw,0.0221xh&resize=360:* ""Easy A" Los Angeles Premiere - Arrivals")
