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Tonya Harding’s secret, sort-of, admirer

January 16, 2014 by Dave Knadler

tonya harding boxing

Tonya (left) on “Celebrity Boxing.” Karma’s a bitch.

Put me in Team Tonya. I guess that makes me an army of one.

Yeah:  It’s tough to sympathize with the roughneck skater even all these years later. She was never what you’d call likable, and never admitted any role in the idiotic plot to cripple Olympics-rival Nancy Kerrigan — even though, if you believe the new ESPN documentary “The Price of Gold,” the evidence suggests otherwise.

Time never mellowed her, either. In the 20 years since, every time her name came up it was in connection with some tawdry TV appearance, or too much drinking, or ongoing domestic troubles, like clocking her latest boyfriend with a hubcap.

Still. I guess I like her because she is so flawed. Except for sheer guts, she was the exact opposite of everything you’d expect in an Olympics-level figure-skater. She never got rich on her fleeting fame. Why she was never offered at least a cheesy reality show, I’ll never know. But I like that about her too.

tonya on ice

Bad night in Lillehammer.

I remember the Winter Olympics of 1994 like it was the Kennedy Assassination. Not just because of Tonya Harding. That was the week I discovered my then-wife was cheating on me. The medal event was a few days later, on my birthday. We had friends over to watch it on TV. It was last entertaining we ever did as a couple.

I can still see Tonya weeping over her broken shoelace and ruined dream. I remember her outfit, something a 6th-grade girl would wear. The crowd booed her off the ice. I thought I knew how she felt: not blameless, maybe, but badly humiliated and badly wounded.

Anyway, I’ll be watching “The Price of Gold.” Not because I care so much about figure-skating. It’s just that somehow, Tonya became part of my personal history. So I’m curious to see how time judges her.

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Filed Under: american life, Me, Other Stuff

Comments

  1. Deb says

    January 17, 2014 at 11:30 am

    This was an interesting entry and I watched the documentary because of it. I thought the show was well done and heard a few things about the incident that I didn’t know/remember. (that Eckhardt ‘crew’ !?!?!) I developed more sympathy because of her rough upbringing, but still….unlikeable to me.

  2. John H. says

    January 17, 2014 at 4:43 pm

    You’re not alone. For some reason, I also have a soft spot for Tonya. She makes me think of the inept criminals in some crime stories, who end up doing much more harm to themselves than to anyone else.

    You didn’t mention the sex tape that her ex sold to a porn movie company. Was she the first celebrity to have that happen?

    • Dave Knadler says

      January 17, 2014 at 4:57 pm

      Guess I missed out on the sex tape thing. I don’t think I’ll investigate further.

  3. Paula says

    January 17, 2014 at 6:50 pm

    Sorry, Dave, I think your gears weren’t meshing quite right due to the unfortunate events of your own life at the time. To me she’ll always be a very trashy person.

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