Winter Olympics VII - Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan

Winter Olympics Series Episode VII - Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan

From the dawn of sport, competitors have bent, stretched and downright circumvented the rules in order to gain an advantage over their opposition. Usually, this is in the form of gamesmanship and rule breaking on the field or drug taking and bribing off it. Rarely in sport are there occasions where one competitor is accused of orchestrating violence against another, but on January 6th 1994 that happened, just as the USA's best figure skaters prepared to go head-to-head with only two spots for the 1994 Winter Olympics available to them.

The victim was Nancy Kerrigan, the reigning US champion and 1992 Olympic Bronze Medallist. The perpetrators were hired by the then husband of Tonya Harding, the 1991 US Champion aiming for redemption having finished fourth in the Albertville Olympics of '92. Harding's involvement has been debated for years, she took a plea deal to accept knowledge after the fact but has denied knowing in advance, but those around her had a different story.

It's as big a scandal as the Winter Olympics has produced, and testament and proof that wherever there is a line to cross in sport, if someone wants it too much then they may just be prepared to cross.