On January 6, 1994, Nancy Kerrigan, an American figure skater, was struck on the lower right thigh with a telescopic baton by assailant Shane Stant as she walked down a corridor in Cobo Arena in Detroit, Michigan. Kerrigan had been practicing skating on an ice rink in the arena shortly beforehand.

The attack was planned by Jeff Gillooly, the ex-husband of fellow American figure skater Tonya Harding, and his co-conspirator Shawn Eckardt.[1][2][3] They hired Stant, and his uncle Derrick Smith, to carry out the attack. Gillooly and Eckardt both claimed that Harding was involved in the attack and had knowledge of it beforehand. Harding initially denied all knowledge of the attack,[4][5] but soon accepted a plea agreement admitting to helping cover up the attack after the fact.[6][7] Later, both a grand jury[8] and a disciplinary panel from the United States Figure Skating Association (USFSA)[9] found further evidence of Harding's involvement during the planning and execution phases.

The attack was intended to prevent Kerrigan from taking part in the ongoing 1994 United States Figure Skating Championships and the forthcoming Winter Olympics, thus increasing the prospects of Harding in both figure skating events. Kerrigan could not compete in the US Championship but recovered in time to compete in the Winter Olympics. Both women competed in the 1994 Olympics, and Harding was later banned for life from USFSA figure skating events.[10]

Nancy Ann Kerrigan (born October 13, 1969)[2] is an American former figure skater. She won bronze medals at the 1991 World Championships and the 1992 Winter Olympics, silver medals at the 1992 World Championships and the 1994 Winter Olympics, as well as the 1993 US National Figure Skating Championship. Kerrigan was inducted into the United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 2004.

On January 6, 1994, an assailant used a police baton to strike Kerrigan on her landing knee; the attacker was hired by the ex-husband of her rival Tonya Harding. The attack injured Kerrigan, but she quickly recovered. Harding and Kerrigan both participated in the 1994 Winter Olympics, but after the Games, Harding was permanently banned from competitive figure skating. At the Olympics, Kerrigan won the silver medal in a controversial showdown with gold medal winner Oksana Baiul. She then started touring and performed with several ice skating troupes that included Champions on Ice and Broadway on Ice. In 2017, she was a contestant on Dancing with the Stars.

свернуть