Nancy Kerrigan

Kerrigan was born in Stoneham, Massachusetts, the youngest child and only daughter of Welder Daniel Kerrigan (1939–2010) and homemaker Brenda Kerrigan (née Schultz, b. 1940).

She is of English, Irish, and German ancestry, and has stated: "There's very little Irish in me, just my name."

While her brothers Michael and Mark played hockey, she took up figure skating at age six.

She did not start private lessons until age eight and won her first competition, the Boston Open, at age nine.

Kerrigan's family was of modest means.

Her father sometimes worked three jobs to fund her skating career; he also drove the Zamboni at the local rink in exchange for Nancy's lessons.

Kerrigan was coached by Theresa Martin until she was 16, then began working with Evy and Mary Scotvold after a brief period with Denise Morrissey.

The Scotvolds remained her coaches through the rest of her competitive career.

The assault was planned by rival Tonya Harding's ex-husband Jeff Gillooly and co-conspirator Shawn Eckardt (1967–2007).

Nancy Ann Kerrigan (born October 13, 1969) is an American former figure skater.

Kerrigan began to reach prominence at the national level when she placed fourth at the junior level at the 1987 U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

She made an early impression as a strong jumper, but was comparatively weak in compulsory figures.

She made her senior debut the following season, moving up the national rankings each year: 12th in 1988, fifth in 1989 when she won the bronze medal at the 1989 Winter Universiade, and fourth in 1990.

It was followed by an even worse performance at a televised pro-am event, where she fell three times, botched the landing of another jump, and appeared dazed and depressed, losing to 1988 Olympian Caryn Kadavy.

She continued to be held back by compulsory figures until they were eliminated from competitions after the 1990 season.

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's rise at the national level continued when she placed third at the 1991 U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

She qualified for the 1991 World Figure Skating Championships, where she won the bronze medal.

Her medal was part of the first-ever sweep of the women's podium by a single country at the World Championships, as her teammates Kristi Yamaguchi and Tonya Harding won gold and silver, respectively.

In the 1992 season, Kerrigan again improved on her placement at the previous year's national championships by finishing second.

She won a bronze medal (Yamaguchi took the gold) in the 1992 Winter Olympics and earned the silver medal at the 1992 World Championships.

The following season—with Yamaguchi retired from eligible competition—Kerrigan became United States champion, even though her performance was flawed.

She admitted that she would have to improve her skating in time for the World Championships.

She won the short program at the World Championships in Prague, but had a disastrous free skate that resulted in her tumbling to fifth in the standings.

Before and after the 1992 Olympics, she had many corporate sponsorship contracts (with companies such as Campbell's Soup, Evian, Reebok, and Seiko) and opportunities to perform professionally, which were permitted after the International Skating Union abolished the earlier strict amateur status rules that had governed eligibility for the sport.

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 preparation for the 1994 Winter Olympics, she curtailed these activities to focus on her training, instead.

She also began working with a sports psychologist to better handle her nerves in competition.

On January 6, 1994, at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Detroit, As Kerrigan was walking through a corridor at Cobo Arena immediately after a practice session, she was bludgeoned on the right lower thigh with a police baton by an assailant, who was later apprehended and identified as Shane Stant.

The conspirators' goal was to prevent Kerrigan from competing in both the National Championships and the Lillehammer 1994 Olympics.

The attack's immediate aftermath was recorded on a TV camera and broadcast around the world.

The initial footage showed the attendants helping Kerrigan as she grabbed at her knee, crying out: "Why, why, why?"

Kerrigan was also seen being carried away by her father Daniel.

Harding won the championship, with Michelle Kwan second.

Kerrigan was inducted into the United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 2004.

In 2017, she was a contestant on Dancing with the Stars.