Tonya Harding Research Paper

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In early January, figure skating icons Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan were hard at work, preparing for the National Championship, which would earn one of them a spot on the Olympic team. While practicing, Kerrigan received a strike to the knee by an unidentified man on the ice. Evidence pointed towards Tonya Harding, a skater coming from a life of broken relationships. It was thought she wanted to sabotage Kerrigan, her biggest competitor. Later on in March, Harding’s ex-husband admitted guilt and incriminated Harding along with him. After months of denying any association and knowledge of the attack, she pleaded guilty to “conspiring to hinder prosecution” (Source B). She was sentenced to a fine, a few years in jail, and many hours of community service. …show more content…
Harding attempted to make a life for herself by doing other careers, writing a book, and attending interviews, but her downfall is something that will live on in sports history for a foreseeable time. Tonya Hardings federal punishment was extremely fair, however the lifetime ban to skate or coach competitively was not justified due to other instances of athletes being linked to more despicable crimes but being able to return to their craft at a later time. From the start, Tonya Harding showed great talent from her young skating days, becoming “the first female American skater to land the triple axel” (Source D). After financial struggles to pay for costumes and lessons, Harding dropped out of school her sophomore year to fully commit herself to skating. She had the skill that led her to compete at the Olympic level, twice. However, in the ice skating sport, this simply is not enough. Her biggest opponent, Nancy Kerrigan, had the skill, grace and beauty that earned her the title “ice princess” (Source C). Kerrigan was the picture-perfect model of skating, and that was exactly what the judges were
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in the name of generating money and publicity. In the context of Tonya Harding, the mainstream media used her unconventional looks and unorthodox habits as a way to bash and exploit her through embellished narratives (Krause 44). Harding grew up in a working-class family with limited funds, and she had hobbies such as fishing, hunting, and mechanics, all placing her outside of the proper embellishment of figure skating (“Tonya Harding”). The media companies picked up on this deviance and increasingly…

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