Los Angeles: Twenty years on, the shocking assault on figure skater Nancy Kerrigan that was later tied to cohorts of her rival and 1994 US Olympic teammate Tonya Harding, maintains the power to mesmerize.
The attack, in which gold medal contender Kerrigan was clubbed on the leg leaving a practice session at the US Figure Skating Championships in Detroit, occurred on January 6 of 1994.
In the ensuing weeks, a sordid saga unfolded, with Harding steadfastly denying that she had any prior knowledge of a plot hatched by her ex-husband Jeff Gillooly to hire "hit man" Shane Stant to disable Kerrigan in a bid to boost Harding`s Olympic hopes.
The scandal was a media sensation, creating a surge of interest in figure skating in the United States that peaked when the two women competed against each other at the Lillehammer Games.
Kerrigan, who had quietly worked to rehabilitate her injury in order to compete, captured the silver medal, only a hair`s breadth behind Ukrainian Oksana Baiul.
Harding, allowed to compete by the US Olympic Committee only after threatening a multi-million-dollar lawsuit, finished eighth.
Nanette Burstein, director of an ESPN documentary on the scandal, "The Price of Gold," said she was struck by how the massive media coverage at the time -- launched by harrowing television pictures of an injured Kerrigan weeping "Why? Why?" -- proved a harbinger of how such stories would come to be treated by the media.
"What`s interesting is that `94 was one of those years where things really started to change as far as our media," Burstein told AFP.
"It was the beginning of the 24-hour news cycle on television and was really the beginning of major news outlets covering what previously were considered tabloid stories as the top-of-the-hour story every day.
"Obviously that`s become exponential in the last 20 years," Burstein said. "This was really a turning point."
Thanks to the melodrama, an astonishing 48.5 percent of US households tuned in to watch the Olympic women`s short program on February 23, 1994 -- even though it was a tape-delayed broadcast.
The boom lingered for a few years, Kerrigan turning pro and reaping the rewards of her skating achievements as well as the notoriety of the case.
Harding was banished from the sport after admitting she had learned of Gillooly`s involvement in the attack after the fact but failed to inform authorities.
Harding pleaded guilty to hindering the prosecution and was sentenced to three years of probation, 500 hours of community service, and a $160,000 fine.
In "The Price of Gold," set to premiere on January 16, Harding reiterates that she had no prior knowledge of the attack.
"Everybody out there that truly knows me knows I was not involved in the planning," she said.
As the Sochi Winter Olympics approach, Harding will be far from the spotlight, living in her native Oregon with her husband and toddler son.
Kerrigan will again be welcomed into the Olympic fold as a commentator for US broadcaster NBC.
The 44-year-old Kerrigan, who has three children with her husband and agent Jerry Solomon, says she doesn`t dwell on the attack, and doesn`t want to be thought of as a victim.
"That was a part of my life that was just bizarre," Kerrigan said this week as NBC announced her Sochi role.
"To be remembered as a victim of an attack as opposed to having two Olympic medals and all the hard work that went into it, I hope that doesn`t overshadow everything that I did. It was just a moment."
Perhaps for that reason, Kerrigan opted not to participate in "The Price of Gold," in which Burstein focuses on Harding`s unlikely rise in figure skating.
A natural talent with an athletic style, Harding was the first US woman -- and only the second woman ever -- to complete a triple axel in competition.
She earned silver at the 1991 World Championships, but Harding also had a hard edge that often put her at odds with a skating establishment that preferred its ladies` champions to be in the "ice princess" mold.
"She was such an unlikely person to be an ice skater," Burstein said. "It`s like she has her talent in the wrong sport at the wrong time."
That`s exactly why, Burstein said, Harding`s story was so compelling.
"I think Nancy`s story is unbelievably admirable," Burstein said.
"She got injured six weeks before the Olympics. This is the pivotal moment of her life .. this horrible thing happens to her, there`s a media maelstrom surrounding her.
"And she comes back and skates beautifully and wins the silver medal. It is the triumph over adversity, sort of the typical athlete`s story.
"Tonya`s story is more complicated. There are many different shades, good or bad."
First Published: Saturday, January 11, 2014, 15:18
