Elvin ross biography of nancy kerrigan

Despite her knee injury, Kerrigan went on to win the silver medal at the Games. As the youngest of three — and the only girl — Kerrigan often tagged along with her brothers to the neighborhood ice rink while they played hockey, becoming a self-described "tomboy. Kerrigan's ice hockey background made it easy to transition into figure skating at the age of 6.

When an instructor commented on her talent, Kerrigan's family began investing in her Olympic career. She won the Boston Open, her first competition, at age 9. After her first taste of success, Kerrigan quickly went on to win both local and regional competitions. But her continued success cost money and, to make ends meet, Dan worked odd jobs and took out loans to support her aspirations.

Motivated by her dream, and her family's financial sacrifices, Kerrigan poured herself into her practices, rising at 4 a.

Elvin ross biography of nancy kerrigan

After high school, Kerrigan enrolled in Emmanuel College, near her Stoneham home, where she majored in business. But Kerrigan hadn't abandoned her Olympic dreams, and only a year into her bachelor's degree, she entered and won the National Collegiate Championships. Months later, she took home a bronze medal at the U. Olympic Festival.

The next year, she snagged a gold, earning the right to represent the United States at the Winter Games in Albertville, France. Kerrigan earned a bronze medal at Albertville, followed by her first national title at the U. Nationals in Phoenix, Arizona. The Olympian appeared to be entering the top of her game in Nancy continued to ascend in the national standings, claiming the silver medal at the U.

She went on to secure a bronze medal at the Winter Olympics in Albertville and another bronze at the World Championships. On January 6, , Nancy's life took a dramatic turn when she was attacked by Shane Stant, hired by her rival, Tonya Harding's ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly. Despite the trauma, Nancy displayed resilience and quickly resumed training with renewed determination.

At the Winter Olympics, Nancy delivered two stunning performances, earning a silver medal behind Oksana Baiul. However, her victory was overshadowed by the controversy surrounding the judging in the free skate. Yet Kerrigan loved to skate, and her determination and commitment soon began to pay off. She landed her first triple-triple two consecutive triple toe loops in practice when she was 14 years old, successfully completing the jump for the first time in competition the following year.

Having mastered the difficult combination not attempted by other women skaters at the time, Kerrigan began to realize that she could become an exceptional skater. When Yamaguchi announced that she was turning professional, Kerrigan became the top-ranked skater in the nation and proved her standing by winning the U. Championships in Attracting national attention, she was named by People magazine as one of the fifty most beautiful celebrities, and she was beginning to garner endorsement contracts that would finally make her skating pay off financially.

However, feeling the pressure of her standing and her new role as a media darling, Kerrigan began to falter. In at the World Championships in Prague , Kerrigan, favored to win, was in first place after the short program, but she fell apart in the long program. Missing her first jump, she lost concentration and turned two triple jumps into unimpressive singles.

She finished ninth in the long program and fifth overall. It was a devastating loss for Kerrigan, who sobbed in defeat after the competition. Determined to return to form, Kerrigan recommitted herself to long, arduous practices. Stepping onto the ice at the U. Championships, Kerrigan was overwhelmingly favored to defend her title.

Her closest competition was Harding, who skated a very physically challenging routine but lacked Kerrigan's artistic elegance and routinely finished behind her more polished opponent. What played out at the U. Championships, held in Detroit , Michigan , was one of the most bizarre sporting dramas of all time. Two days prior to the competition, Kerrigan was leaving the practice arena, Cobo Hall, around p.

She walked behind a blue curtain that separated the rink from a hallway leading to the locker rooms. When she stopped to talk briefly to a reporter, a man ran by, crouched down, hit Kerrigan on the knee with a lead pipe, and kept running. Kerrigan fell to the floor in pain and was quickly taken to the hospital. Although she had no broken bones, the damage to her knee cap and quadriceps tendon was severe enough to cause her to withdraw from the U.

In the ensuing investigation, police linked the crime to Harding's former husband, Jeff Gillooly, who had hired two buddies to carry out the attack, supposedly to remove Harding's main competition. All three served time in jail. As it turned out, Harding won the championship and was named to the Olympic team. Because Kerrigan did not skate in the nationals, she did not qualify for the Olympics, but the U.

Figure Skating Association, acknowledging that Kerrigan was the country's best shot at bringing home a gold medal, named her to the team anyway. Kerrigan had six weeks between the championships and the Olympics to rehabilitate her injured knee. The events surrounding Kerrigan's attack played out in the media headlines for months. Harding denied any direct involvement, and the police could not link her to the crime.

As a result she was allowed to remain on the Olympic team, much to the dismay of Kerrigan and her supporters. However, distracted by the overwhelming media attention in the aftermath of the attack, she performed well below her best and was never a challenge to Kerrigan's medal hopes. Later Harding admitted that she learned of the attack shortly after it occurred.

She was subsequently banned from the World Championships and charged with hindering an investigation, for which she received three years of probation. Kerrigan's main competition at the Olympics was year-old Oksana Baiul from the Ukraine , who had won the World Championships. Kerrigan, who was continuously surrounded by multiple security guards during the Olympics, won the short program, and although she made a small mistake near the beginning of her free skate, she completed a near-perfect routine.

Baiul also made a minor mistake but also otherwise skated flawlessly.