Tonya Harding

Tonya Maxene Harding (born November 12, 1970) is an American figure skating champion a two-time Olympian and a two-time Skate America 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 and Shane Stant to attack her skating competitor Nancy Kerrigan at a practice session during the 1994 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. Harding was born in Portland, Oregon, the daughter of LaVona and Al Harding. She had a half-brother, Chris Davison (deceased). Her father had health problems that sometimes made him unable to work. She claims that her mother sexually abused her, a claim her mother denies. She began skating at an early age under the direction of the late Sylvia Harpolscheimer. She landed her first triple lutz at age 12. Her mother made many of her skating costumes. She stopped attending high school during her sophomore year and later earned a GED as she started receiving invitations to international skating competitions while she was