American noted competition skater from age seven, winning her first national championship with a daring triple axel in 1991. She achieved a Bronze Medal win at the Olympics in 1992.
Harding was raised by a mom who was abusive and critical, who had seven successive men whom the little girl called “daddy.” As spirited as her mother, at 15 she hit her half-brother with an iron when he drunkenly came on to her. In 1988 she was queried on the hit-and-run death of her half-brother, Eric Davidson.
She met Jeff Gillooly (born 9/15/1967) in 1986 when she was 15 and he, 18. They married four years later. With a tempestuous and passionate relationship, they separated and reconciled several times before finally divorcing.
A competition skater from the time she was a kid, Harding was street smart and a fighter but her trashy reputation kept sponsors away. Her skill kept increasing up to a win at the 1992 Olympics.
Her rivalry with Nancy Kerrigan began in 1990. On 1/06/1994 in Detroit. Kerrigan was injured by a baton blow to her knee. Harding was implicated through her bodyguard and her ex-husband named her in the plot to incapacitate Kerrigan. As she had not been convicted at the time that the Olympic games were held, she was allowed to participate at Lillehammer, Norway. On 2/23/1994, she came in 10th while Kerrigan put on a glorious winning demonstration.
Harding plea bargained to a conspiracy charge, resigned from U.S. Figure Skating and was fined over $100,000 plus $50,000 to the Special Olympics and $10,000 in court costs. Her competitive career was effectively finished.
After five years of down-time, Harding made an appearance at the Pro Skating Championships in Huntington, W. VA. in October 1999. She expected a chilly reception, but stated that skating was her life and all she knew.
Harding was back in the news for misdemeanor assault on her boyfriend, Darren Silver, 2/22/2000, claiming that she hurled a hubcap at him in self-defense.
The former figure skater changed her career and her looks when, in 2003, she began to train as a professional boxer, working out, gaining weight, and developing muscles on her 5’1” frame. On January 19, 2005, she knocked out her opponent in 62 seconds for a 3-3 professional record.
She married 42-year-old Joseph Price on June 23, 2010, whom she met at a local restaurant called Timbers, when she was 39 years old and took his surname. She gave birth to her only child, a son named Gordon, on February 19, 2011.
In December 2017, the biographical film I, Tonya, directed by Craig Gillespie, was released, with Australian actress Margot Robbie portraying Harding.
Link to Wikipedia biography