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With Sochi rapidly approaching, all of us–fans, media, and athletes alike–are getting excited for the 2014 Olympic Games. But before we begin celebrating the opening of the next Winter Olympics, it’s worth reflecting on a dark event from two decades ago.
Today marks the 20th anniversary of the attack on figure skater Nancy Kerrigan, an incident that forever changed the sport of figure skating, leaving a blight on a sport that until then was known for publicly being a symbol of poise, elegance, and class.
20 years ago the Kerrigan’s agonized cries were heard around the world, with the video of her post-attack reaction played and replayed by television media. On the eve of the 1994 US Figure Skating Championships in Detroit, defending champion Kerrigan was clubbed on the knee as she took a break from practice.
The suspect fled immediately after the attack, escaping what little security there was in the arena. Typically reserved and quiet, she clutched her injured knee, moaning, sobbing, and asking “why?” That one word–why–was uttered repeatedly both by Kerrigan and the media over the next several weeks. Today, 20 years later, I find myself still asking the same question.
The attack left Kerrigan with a serious bruised knee, forcing her to withdraw from the competition and leaving her Olympic dreams in question. In the weeks following the attack suspicion fell on fellow skater Tonya Harding. Although both skaters went on to compete at the Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway that year (Kerrigan was named to the US Olympic team after being cleared by doctors.), the increasing scrutiny melted away any chances for Harding to medal. With further investigation and confessions from her entourage, Harding finally confessed to having knowledge about the plot to attack Kerrigan, and eventually she was banned from competitive skating and stripped of her 1994 national title.
At the time of the Harding-Kerrigan scandal, I was 19, balancing college studies and the Olympic Games. Like many, I became wrapped up in the sordid details that unfolded before, during, and after Lillehammer. And while Kerrigan had never been my favorite skater, it became easy to pull against Tonya Harding and all that she represented. What was unfortunate about the events of 1994 was how the gold medal win by a wide-eyed Oksana Baiul and the emergence of a young Michelle Kwan (Silver Medalist at US Nationals and alternate at the 1994 Olympics) were overshadowed by the soap opera Harding and Company had created on the ice.
Tonya Harding and the attack on Nancy Kerrigan should represent the darkest period in figure skating; yet, ironically, it occurred at a time when figure skating was at its height, and the scandal even seemed to catapult the sport into an even higher level of popularity. From about 1994 until 2003 figure skating seemed to be on television almost every winter weekend: amateur competitions, professional competitions, exhibitions, and even pro-am events.
Figure skaters became rock stars with tours that sold out arenas. In 2002, however, another scandal struck figure skating, and the sport slowly began to lose its mass appeal. Today there is rarely an exhibition program on television, and die-hard fans of skating must resort to watching some of the competitions online. Amateur international competitions such as Skate America used to draw a sold out audience, and whereas now the skaters compete in arenas of half-empty stands.
Some fans (including me) have blamed the new judging system that was put in place a few years ago. Perhaps the rock stars and their music just grew older and popularity naturally faded away. Since the scandals of 1994 and 2002, the sport has tried to repair its image, making numerous changes, including a new points system for judging.
Whatever the reason for its declining popularity, I am hopeful that figure skating will experience a resurgence, but one that won’t include a Tonya Harding, but rather the raw talent of an Oksana Baiul and the flair of a Kurt Browning or a Viktor Petrenko.
While today’s anniversary is important to remember, I leave you with the gold medal performance of Oksana Baiul from February 25, 1994. It’s a nice reminder of the old days and the feeling that great Olympic performances can evoke:
