THE true story behind I, Tonya is so scandalous that even its starring actress, Margot Robbie, thought it was made-up.
Released last weekend in the US and out here next month, the movie retells the gripping and controversial real life tale of Olympic figure skater, Tonya Harding, and the plot to injure her competitor, Nancy Kerrigan, before the 1994 Winter Olympics.
Tonya Harding may have been the first American woman to complete a triple axel jump in competition, but her legacy will forever be defined by her association with an infamous, ill-conceived, and even more poorly executed attack on fellow competitor Nancy Kerrigan.
The two skaters were rivals and they both had two different looks, styles and personalities. While Nancy was elegant on the ice, Tonya was athletic and determined. The pair were leading contenders for the two positions on the US Olympic figure skating team – and Tonya made no secret of wanting that gold medal.
What actually happened?
At the time of the US Figure Skating Championships in January 1994, Jeff Gillooly – Tonya Harding’s husband at the time – and her bodyguard Shawn Eckhardt hired a man, Shane Stant, to attack Nancy so that she couldn’t compete in the Winter Olympics.
Shane Stant was paid $6,500 and Jeff Gillooly wanted Nancy’s right leg to be injured because that was her landing leg, and if she couldn’t land, she couldn’t skate.
At the Cobo Arena in Detroit where Nancy and Tonya were preparing for the upcoming world championship competition, Stant followed a TV cameraman who was following Nancy as she left the ice. He swung at her with two hands on a baton and then ran toward the exit door, threw the baton under a car and zoomed away in his getaway car.
Was Nancy Kerrigan hurt?
She was hit about an inch above her right knee, and she was carried away by her father. She was crying, shouting “why, why, why?” over and over again.
The injury forced Nancy to withdraw from the U.S. Championships (the event Tonya went on to win), but her fellow skaters agreed that she merited one of the two spots on the Olympic team.
Nancy’s on screen character, played by Caitlin Carver (Nashville, Parks and Recreation and Glee) doesn’t get much air-time in the movie because the director wanted it to be Tonya’s side of the story.
What happened next?
With Nancy out of action, Tonya went on to place first in the Championships in Detroit. She couldn’t revel in the glory for long though because Eckardt’s 24-year-old pastor Gene Saunders went to the FBI after Eckardt bragged about being involved.
It didn’t take long for his fellow accomplice to be named – which included Tonya’s husband, Jeff.
Tonya originally claimed she had no knowledge of the plan, saying she learned about her husband’s role afterwards. In a statement she said: “Despite my mistakes and my rough edges, I have done nothing to violate the standards of excellence in sportsmanship that are expected in an Olympic athlete.”
On 1st February Jeff agreed to testify against Tonya in exchange for a plea bargain. If you think these two were a couple in love – think again. The pair had an on-again off-again marriage, but they broke up permanently in the middle of the investigation.
In March 1994, after Jeff turned on her and key evidence was found in a dumpster, Tonya pleaded guilty to conspiring to hinder prosecution of her husband and the others involved. She received three years probation, 500 hours of community service and was hit with a $100,000 fine.
Nancy vs Tonya on ice
Controversy raged over whether Tonya should be allowed to skate in the Olympics. But when the U.S. Olympic Committee scheduled a hearing to discuss whether she should be removed from the team, Tonya filed a $25million lawsuit against the Committee, and the USOC backed down and agreed to let her skate in the Olympics.
The pair competed against each other – Nancy took home silver, and Harding placed eighth. They didn’t talk, but were famously photographed side by side.
Was Margot Robbie familiar with Tonya’s story?
Absolutely not! When the Wolf of Wall Street actress read the script she thought the plot was so bonkers that it must be fictional, telling Rolling Stone magazine: “I thought, ‘Wow, this writer is, like, crazy creative coming up with all this bizarre stuff.” Margot and director Craig Gillespie met with Tonya during the filming process.
Where are they all now?
The scandal eventually led to the end of Tonya Harding’s career in figure skating. Six months after the attack she was stripped of her titles (including the World Championship title she won while Nancy was out of action) and she was also banned from competing.
She went on to discover a love of music and progressed to a short-lived career in boxing, after a stint on the show Celebrity Boxing.
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She is married with a son and makes regular appearances on a TV show called World’s Dumbest Criminals.
After the scandal Nancy retired from amateur competition after the Olympics and has focused her career on performing in a variety of ice shows. She married her agent Jerry Solomon and they have three children. In a recent interview she described herself as “just a mom”.
Jeff Gillooly accepted a plea offer in exchange for his testimony against Tonya. He was sentenced to two years in prison after pleading guilty of racketeering but was released in 1995 after serving six months. He subsequently changed his name to Jeff Stone, changed his appearance and called the allegations “utterly ridiculous.” He now lives in Oregon with his wife.