Comparing Tonya Harding And Nancy Kerrigan

Figure skating has always been an aesthetically pleasing sport, but people always fail to realize what kind of physical toll it takes on the athlete. These “princesses of ice” go through not only physical distress, but also emotional distress with the ongoing obsession to be perfect and the “best”. This unhealthy obsession can make a person go mad, which opens up discussion on arguably one of the most memorable moments in the entire sport: the Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan 1994 incident. Both skaters were in their prime, but like in every sport they need to win made some athletes, or in this situation athlete’s acquaintance, do some crazy things. Nancy was seen as the regal, classy, pure, and pristine skater and Tonya was seen as the “ugly …show more content…
The loop creates a line going up and when landing. Lines are perfection in skating. The judges are impressed with clean and crisp routines. Using Nancy Kerrigan as an example, every time she completed a loop jump, she would extend her non-landing leg and create three lines: one directing attention to the sky, one directing attention to the ice, and one directing attention to the viewer. To the normal eye, this linear technique can be viewed as a tool to grab the attention of the crowd and the judges, but one must review the technique in relation to the sport as a whole. Men and women both compete in ice skating, but the female side is the only side that focuses on grabbing attention through the body. It is true that men that do leg extensions, but it is not their entire routine. It is also not the only thing they are known for. Men in figure skating are athletes, in contrast to the idea that female figure skaters are just pretty objects that do cool tricks for the entertainment of Americans and people all over the world. This argument can be supported by the ESPN 30 for 30 The Price of Gold. In the documentary, focus was put on the incident between Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding in the 1994 U.S Olympic trials. When filmmakers and commentators talked about Nancy they focused on her beauty and grace on the ice. Her leg extension was mentioned, but none of the other jumps she competed with. In fact, little mention of her athleticism was made and a lot of the credit she did receive was because she fits the mold of what a skate was supposed to look like. Oppose to the credit, Tonya got. Yes, Tonya is the black sheep of the skating world, but in the skating world Tonya was seen as strong, and when refined she had amazing technique. In fact, her technique was discussed by and compared to people outside of female ice