True Crime-Paranormal-Conspiracy Theories Stories Part V #Wattys2023

Assault on Nancy Kerrigan

Nancy Ann Kerrigan (born October13, 1969) is an American figure skater and actress. She won bronzemedals at the 1991 World Championships and the 1992 Winter Olympics,silver medals at the 1992 World Championships and the 1994 WinterOlympics, as well as the 1993 US National Figure SkatingChampionship. Kerrigan was inducted into the United States FigureSkating Hall of Fame in 2004.

In January 1994, an assailant used apolice baton to strike Kerrigan on her landing knee; the attacker washired by the ex-husband of her rival Tonya Harding. The attackinjured Kerrigan, but she quickly recovered. Harding and Kerriganboth participated in the 1994 Winter Olympics, but after the Games,Harding was permanently banned from competitive figure skating. Atthe Olympics, Kerrigan won the silver medal in a controversialshowdown with gold medal winner Oksana Baiul. She then startedtouring and performed with several ice skating troupes that includedChampions on Ice and Broadway on Ice. In 2017, she was a contestanton season 24 of Dancing with the Stars.

Early life

Kerrigan was born in Stoneham,Massachusetts, the youngest child and only daughter of welder DanielKerrigan (1939–2010) and homemaker Brenda Kerrigan (née Schultz,b. 1940). She is of English, Irish and German ancestry, and hasstated: "There's very little Irish in me, just my name."While her brothers Michael and Mark played hockey, she took up figureskating at age six. She did not start private lessons until age eightand won her first competition, the Boston Open, at age nine.

Kerrigan's family was of modest means.Her father sometimes worked three jobs to fund her skating career; healso drove the Zamboni at the local rink in exchange for Nancy'slessons. Kerrigan was coached by Theresa Martin until she was 16,then began working with Evy and Mary Scotvold after a brief periodwith Denise Morrissey. The Scotvolds remained her coaches through therest of her competitive career.

Skating career

Kerrigan began to reach prominence atthe national level when she placed fourth at the junior level at the1987 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. She made an early impressionas a strong jumper, but was comparatively weak in compulsory figures.She made her senior debut the following season, moving up thenational rankings each year: 12th in 1988, fifth in 1989, and fourthin 1990. She continued to be held back by compulsory figures untilthey were eliminated from competitions after the 1990 season.

1991–1993 competitions

Kerrigan's rise at the national levelcontinued when she placed third at the 1991 U.S. Figure SkatingChampionships. She qualified for the 1991 World Figure SkatingChampionships, where she won the bronze medal. Her medal was part ofthe first-ever sweep of the women's podium by a single country at theWorld Championships, as her teammates Kristi Yamaguchi and TonyaHarding won gold and silver, respectively.

In the 1992 season, Kerrigan againimproved on her placement at the previous year's nationalchampionships by finishing second. She won a bronze medal (Yamaguchitook the gold) in the 1992 Winter Olympics and earned the silvermedal at the 1992 World Championships.

The following season—with Yamaguchiretired from eligible competition—Kerrigan became United Stateschampion, even though her performance was flawed. She admitted thatshe would have to improve her skating in time for the WorldChampionships. She won the short program at the World Championshipsin Prague, but had a disastrous free skate that resulted in hertumbling to fifth in the standings. This was followed by an evenworse performance at a televised pro-am event, where Kerrigan fellthree times, botched the landing of another jump, and appeared dazedand depressed, losing to 1988 Olympian Caryn Kadavy.