Tonya Harding: 1992-1994
mary
America to the 1994 Winter Olympics.
At the 1992 Skate America, which was held that year in Victoria, BC,
Tonya ended up in fourth place. That fall, she went to the Pro-Am
Competition and ended up second to Nancy Kerrigan.
At the 1993 United States Nationals, Tonya kept hitting her Triple Axel
in practice. In the Short Program , she wore the red sleeveless outfit
that she would wear for her Short Program at the 1994 US Nationals and
for her Short Program at Lillehamar. It was a fiery red and most of the
top was see through. She was skating to music from the movie
"Footloose", when during a planned Triple Lutz-Double Toe Loop, her neck
strap snapped apart and she had to stop skating. Some suspected her of
loosening her strap before hand, but there is no proof of this . She
fixed her costume and went on with the rest of her program to the cheers
of the crowd, and ended up in second place, with Nancy in first.
For the Free Skate, she wore a pretty purple outfit with short sleeves.
She didn't plan a Triple Axel. She did a Triple Salchow-Double Toe Loop,
Double Lutz, then fell on a Triple Loop. She was fourth overall, just
missing out on being on the World team that year.* She and Nicole Bobek
skated equally well as Lisa Ervin and Tonia Kwiatkowski, but might have
been marked lower due to their reputations as being the bad girls and
rebels of figure skating. Nancy won, Lisa was second and Tonia was
third.
At the 1993 Skate America, Tonya had two new programs. Her Short Program
was to music from the movie "Much Ado About Nothing" Nancy was not at
this event. After the Short Program, she was first, Oksana Baiul second
and Surya Bonaly third.
During practice before the Free Skate, she appeared nervous and
distracted. She only attempted two jumps, the first of which she fell
on. For the Free Skate, her music was from the movie "Jurassic Park".
She wore her white outfit from the 1992 Olympics, with the fringe skirt
and gold design. She did three Triple jumps, than with less than a
minute left in her program, she stopped because her skate felt loose.
She went over to the judges and showed then her skate, then went to her
coach and asked for a screwdriver. She fixed the blade herself. Then
she resumed her program, fell on a Double Axel, and doubled a Triple
Salchow. Her technical scores were low, including a 5.0. Her artistry
marks were even lower, including a humiliating 4.8. She ended up with
the Bronze Medal. Oksana fell twice during her Free Skate but won the
Gold Medal, with Surya the Silver Medal.
Tonya wasn't invited to the Pro-Am that fall. She was told she had to
compete in the Northwest Pacific Regionals to qualify for the 1994
Nationals because of her fourth place showing at the US Nationals that
year. (This Regionals are held every year. The top four skaters in each
regional are selected to go to the US Nationals.) This was a step down
for someone who had won a National Championship and a World Silver medal.
She protested having to go, then a death threat was reported against
her and she said she was afraid to go. (Many suspected she engineered
this death threat herself, to get out of competing.) She was allowed to
pass on this competition.
In order to qualify for the US Nationals, she had to compete at the NHK
competition which was held in Chiba, Japan that fall. She skated cleanly
but was in seventh place after the Short Program Chen Lu and Surya
Bonaly both had falls in their Short Program but were placed third and
fourth after the Short Program. Tonya placed fourth overall after both
programs.
At the 1994 US Nationals, Tonya was in the Group B Practice. During her
skate, she said the wrong version of her music was played, and had the
music replayed. She then went back to her hotel room. Nancy skated in
the Group Practice C. Leaving the practice, she was attacked.
In the Short Program, Tonya did a Triple Lutz-Double Toe. Nine judges
ranked her first, with scores of almost all 5.8s, with one 5.7 and one
5.9. Nicole Bobek was second.
In the Free Skate , she wore a purple dress most people disliked. It was
sleeveless, and the front was a huge kite shaped area of see-through
material. She didn't do a Triple Axel. She did do a Triple Lutz,
singled a Double Axel, did four more triples and then a Double Axel.
The Silver and Bronze medalists from last year, Lisa Ervin and Tonia
Kwiatkowski, who were supposed to be her closest competitors, ended up in
seventh and fifth place. Elaine Zayak, the 1982 World Champion who was
making a comeback, was fourth. 13 year old Michelle Kwan, in only her
second Senior Nationals, was in second place.
At the 1994 Olympics, she arrived late, and in practice she did not do a
complete run through of her programs. She was the eighth skater to
skate in the Short Program. During her skate, she had a step out on
Triple Lutz combination and a sloppy Double Flip. She ended up in tenth
place, out of medal contention. Nancy won the Short Program.
In her Free Skate, she popped her first jump, a Triple Lutz, then went
over to the judges and showed then her skate, this time to say something
was wrong with her shoelace. They allowed her extra time to fix her
shoelace, and Josee Chouinard was forced to skate a few minutes earlier
than she expected, as she was next to skate. Tonya replaced her laces,
then went out to skate. She completed four more triples and ended her
last amateur performance in eighth place.
Brief review of Tonya's competitive results, 1984-1990:
1984: Junior Nationals-6th (13 years old)
1985: Olympic Festival- 5th
1986: Skate America- 2nd
1987: Senior Nationals: 5th
1988: Senior Nationals: 5th
1989: Senior Nationals- 3rd
1989: Skate America- 1st
1990: Senior Nationals: 2nd in Short Program, 10th in Free Skate: 7th
overall
*The 1993 World Championships was one of the worst results of American
ladies. Tonia Kwiatkowski didn't pass the qualifying rounds, Lisa Ervin
ended up in 13th place, and Nancy, after winning the Short Program,
skated so badly in the Free Skate that she ended up in fifth place.
Given Tonya's performance record at this time and the future, she
properly wouldn't have done much better than these ladies.
Louis Epstein
: Here is Tonya Harding's competitive skating analysis from the 1992 Skate
Here is a correction.
: Tonya wasn't invited to the Pro-Am that fall. She was told she had to
: compete in the Northwest Pacific Regionals to qualify for the 1994
: Nationals because of her fourth place showing at the US Nationals that
: year. (This Regionals are held every year. The top four skaters in each
: regional are selected to go to the US Nationals.) This was a step down
: for someone who had won a National Championship and a World Silver medal.
: She protested having to go, then a death threat was reported against
: her and she said she was afraid to go. (Many suspected she engineered
: this death threat herself, to get out of competing.) She was allowed to
: pass on this competition.
You said this before,I corrected it there...it's Sectionals that send
top fours to Nationals,Regionals send top fours to Sectionals.Tonya was
AT the Regionals,held at her home rink,when the supposed death threat
occurred.She was given a bye to Pacific Coast Sectionals,then a bye
THROUGH the Sectionals when sent to the NHK.
: In order to qualify for the US Nationals, she had to compete at the NHK
: competition which was held in Chiba, Japan that fall.
She competed there instead of her Sectional,but I'm not aware of her
Nationals berth being contingent on her results there.
SKHazen
writes:
>Tonya wasn't invited to the Pro-Am that fall [1993]. She was told she
had to
>compete in the Northwest Pacific Regionals to qualify for the 1994
>Nationals because of her fourth place showing at the US Nationals that
>year.
The only skaters who do not have to compete at their respective Regional
Champions are those who won the preceding year's Sectional Championship,
as well as (for Seniors *only*) the winner of the National Championships.
Other skaters may receive a Discretionary Bye for the Regional, but those
are unsually not determined until relatively late in the year. Unless
Tonya had won the 1993 Pacific Coast Sectional Championships (from which
she apparently had a Bye that year and therefore did not), any finish
below 1st at the 1993 Nationals would have required her to plan for
competing at Northwest Pacific.
>(This Regionals are held every year. The top four skaters in each
>regional are selected to go to the US Nationals.) This was a step down
>for someone who had won a National Championship and a World Silver medal.
> She protested having to go, then a death threat was reported against
>her and she said she was afraid to go. (Many suspected she engineered
>this death threat herself, to get out of competing.) She was allowed to
>pass on this competition.
Oops. You missed the Sectional step. There are 9 Regions, each holding
its respective Regional Championship. Above that are 3 per Sections, each
covering 3 Regions and each holding its Sectional Championship. Aside
from the matter of Byes, competitors for Nationals are based on the finish
at the Sectionals, *not* the Regionals.
The actual number of skaters advancing from a Regional to the
corresponding *Sectional* is generally 4 but that number is not fixed in
stone until usually after the Governing Council meeting in the Spring.
Similarly, the actual number of skaters advancing from a Sectional to the
Nationals is generally 4 but that too is subject to change at the
Governing Counil meeting.
>In order to qualify for the US Nationals, she had to compete at the NHK
>competition which was held in Chiba, Japan that fall. She skated cleanly
>but was in seventh place after the Short Program.
Having received a Bye from Northwest Pacific, in order to qualify for the
US Nationals, she had to compete at the *Pacific Coast Sectional
Championship*. The fact that she skated at NHK apparently gave her a
basis for requesting Discetionary Bye from Sectionals. But competing at
NHK does not itself qualify *anyone* to compete in the US Nationals.
>At the 1993 United States Nationals,
[snip]
>For the Free Skate, [Tonya] ... did a Triple Salchow-Double Toe Loop,
>Double Lutz, then fell on a Triple Loop. She was fourth overall, just
>missing out on being on the World team that year.* She and Nicole Bobek
>skated equally well as Lisa Ervin and Tonia Kwiatkowski, but might have
>been marked lower due to their reputations as being the bad girls and
>rebels of figure skating. Nancy won, Lisa was second and Tonia was
>third.
None of the competitors in the FS for the final warm up group in Phoenix
had a clean program and it was rather chaotic (particularly for places
2-5, with every skater making multiple mistakes). When that occurs, it is
much more difficult to get consistent veiw among the Judges as the
relative placement of the skaters. In skating order, the competitors'
marks and ordinals ranged as follows: (1) Harding-Gillooly:
5.3-5.7/5.4-5.6, Ord 2-5 (7/4); (2) Bobek: 5.2-5.7/5.3-5.8, Ord 2-6 (8/5);
(3) Kwiatkowski: 5.1-5.7/5.4-5.7, Ord 3-5 (6/3); (4) Ervin:
5.2-5.7/5.4-5.8, Ord 2-4 (5/2); and (5) Kerrigan: 5.6-5.8/5.8-5.9, Ord
(9/1).
Noting the wild finish of the FS is one thing, but to suggest that the
outcome for Tonya and Nicole was based on "reputations as being the bad
girls and rebels of figure skating" is highly speculative and based on no
independent evidence. The Judges were Susan Johnson, Elaine DeMore, Joan
Burns, Coco Shean, Kathy Slack, Margaret Wier, Joe Driano, Elizabeth
Casner and Roger Glenn. The Referee was Morry Stillwell. All of them are
entitled to a presumption that they discharged their duties both
faithfully and with the highest standards of competency and care.
>*The 1993 World Championships was one of the worst results of American
>ladies. Tonia Kwiatkowski didn't pass the qualifying rounds, Lisa Ervin
>ended up in 13th place, and Nancy, after winning the Short Program,
>skated so badly in the Free Skate that she ended up in fifth place.
>Given Tonya's performance record at this time and the future, she
>properly wouldn't have done much better than these ladies.
Impossible to know how someone might have skated when she was not there.
The World Team was selected along the straight order of finish from
Nationals. Lisa and Tonia earned the right to represent the US in Prague
and were warmly supported by the USFSA, the Team Leader and others on the
US Team -- as it should be. It was generally a tough year for the US at
Worlds.
Cat
stop a program mid-skate, fix something, and then do the program
again. Needless to say, 3 of these from the same woman really make
me suspicious. Are my suspicions remotely justified? Am I just so
much of a newbie that I have missed many other instances like this
with other skaters?
In article <316674...@cybernex.net>, mary <ska...@cybernex.net> wrote:
>Here is Tonya Harding's competitive skating analysis from the 1992 Skate
>America to the 1994 Winter Olympics.
[...]
>She was skating to music from the movie
>"Footloose", when during a planned Triple Lutz-Double Toe Loop, her neck
>strap snapped apart and she had to stop skating. Some suspected her of
>loosening her strap before hand, but there is no proof of this . She
>fixed her costume and went on with the rest of her program to the cheers
>of the crowd, and ended up in second place, with Nancy in first.
[...]
>She did three Triple jumps, than with less than a
>minute left in her program, she stopped because her skate felt loose.
>She went over to the judges and showed then her skate, then went to her
>coach and asked for a screwdriver. She fixed the blade herself. Then
>she resumed her program, fell on a Double Axel, and doubled a Triple
>Salchow.
[...]
>In her Free Skate, she popped her first jump, a Triple Lutz, then went
>over to the judges and showed then her skate, this time to say something
>was wrong with her shoelace. They allowed her extra time to fix her
>shoelace, and Josee Chouinard was forced to skate a few minutes earlier
>than she expected, as she was next to skate. Tonya replaced her laces,
>then went out to skate. She completed four more triples and ended her
>last amateur performance in eighth place.
Cat ------------------------------------------- |\ _,,,--,,_ ,) -------
Visit My Townhouse on the Internet At: /,`.-'`' -, ;-;;'
http://www.feline.org/feline/ |,4- ) )-,_ ) /\
c...@rumpleteazer.feline.org ------------------'---''(_/--' (_/-' -----F.Lee--
Billy Kutulas
For the [1993 Nationals] Free Skate, she wore a pretty purple outfit with
short sleeves. She didn't plan a Triple Axel. She did a Triple
Salchow-Double Toe Loop, Double Lutz, then fell on a Triple Loop.
Tonya stepped out of the landing on the triple loop--don't think she fell.
She also landed a triple flip.
--
Billy Kutulas
gt7...@prism.gatech.edu
SKHazen
writes:
>In the recent past,winning a national medal down to bronze was also good
>for a bye.
Correction. The only *automatic* Bye has gone to the winner of the Gold
Medal. Discretionary Byes have been given quite frequently to the Silver
and Bronze winners, particularly if they were on the World Team. But it
was always (and remains) *discretionary.*
>Tonya Harding won National bronze in 1992 and thus had a bye into 1993
>Nationals...the 1993 Pacific Coast Sectional Senior Ladies Free Skating
>champion was 12-year-old Michelle Kwan.
See correction above. Tonya received a *discretionary* Bye. Being the
Bronze medalist in 1992 did not make that immutable (albeit quite likely
since she was on the World Team); a request had to be made and formally
reviewed before it was granted.
>The only thing I'm aware of varying the number of qualifiers from
Regionals
>to a Sectional is a number of entries...one Region in a Section can make
>up shortfalls in another to bring the Sectional field up to 12.
Another reason for varying the number of qualifiers is the number of
competitors expected to get to Nationals based on Byes. The target is
15-16 total. Serious consideration was given in the 1994-95 season to
reducing the number of qualifiers advancing from both Sectional and (due
to Byes expected for Regionals but not Sectionals) and Regional
Championships to 3. The purpose of the proposal was to meet the total
target and allow higher-ranked skaters from the Detroit Nationals
represent the U.S. in international competitions without putting them at a
competitive disadvantage for qualifying competions occurring relatively
close in time to those international competitions. The decision was made
that it would be unnecessary, particularly if the number of discretionary
Byes were severely limited (as, in fact, occurred).
Louis Epstein
: In article <316674...@cybernex.net>, mary <ska...@cybernex.net>
: writes:
: >Tonya wasn't invited to the Pro-Am that fall [1993]. She was told she had to
: >compete in the Northwest Pacific Regionals to qualify for the 1994
: >Nationals because of her fourth place showing at the US Nationals that year.
: The only skaters who do not have to compete at their respective Regional
: Champions are those who won the preceding year's Sectional Championship,
: as well as (for Seniors *only*) the winner of the National Championships.
In the recent past,winning a national medal down to bronze was also good
for a bye.
: Other skaters may receive a Discretionary Bye for the Regional, but those
: are unsually not determined until relatively late in the year. Unless
: Tonya had won the 1993 Pacific Coast Sectional Championships (from which
: she apparently had a Bye that year and therefore did not), any finish
: below 1st at the 1993 Nationals would have required her to plan for
: competing at Northwest Pacific.
Tonya Harding won National bronze in 1992 and thus had a bye into 1993
Nationals...the 1993 Pacific Coast Sectional Senior Ladies Free Skating
champion was 12-year-old Michelle Kwan.
: >(This Regionals are held every year. The top four skaters in each
: >regional are selected to go to the US Nationals.) This was a step down
: >for someone who had won a National Championship and a World Silver medal.
: > She protested having to go, then a death threat was reported against
: >her and she said she was afraid to go. (Many suspected she engineered
: >this death threat herself, to get out of competing.) She was allowed to
: >pass on this competition.
: Oops. You missed the Sectional step. There are 9 Regions, each holding
: its respective Regional Championship. Above that are 3 per Sections, each
: covering 3 Regions and each holding its Sectional Championship. Aside
: from the matter of Byes, competitors for Nationals are based on the finish
: at the Sectionals, *not* the Regionals.
: The actual number of skaters advancing from a Regional to the
: corresponding *Sectional* is generally 4 but that number is not fixed in
: stone until usually after the Governing Council meeting in the Spring.
: Similarly, the actual number of skaters advancing from a Sectional to the
: Nationals is generally 4 but that too is subject to change at the
: Governing Counil meeting.
The only thing I'm aware of varying the number of qualifiers from Regionals
mary
Thanks for the information. I did not not know about sectionals. I used.
as part of a source for this article I wrote, two books written about
Tonya after the famous attack. But I learn something new everyday!
That's why I said "Proberly, she wouldn't have done much better". I
didn't make a definate statement.
mary
> short sleeves. She didn't plan a Triple Axel. She did a Triple
> Salchow-Double Toe Loop, Double Lutz, then fell on a Triple Loop.
>
> She also landed a triple flip.
>
> --
> Billy Kutulas
> gt7...@prism.gatech.edu
No, you are wrong. I just reviewed the US Nationals Free Skate again, and
Tonya definately falls on her butt during the skate. After that, she
steps out of her triple loop.
Louis Epstein
: In article <DpGw...@news2.new-york.net>, l...@put.com (Louis Epstein)
: writes:
: >In the recent past,winning a national medal down to bronze was also good
: >for a bye.
: Correction. The only *automatic* Bye has gone to the winner of the Gold
: Medal. Discretionary Byes have been given quite frequently to the Silver
: and Bronze winners, particularly if they were on the World Team. But it
: was always (and remains) *discretionary.*
I had understood that the 1994 GC made a decision to limit byes to the
national champions,the silver and bronze medalists having been exempt in
1994's season.(I was at 1994 Easterns...Wynne & Witherby and Chack were
not there,did they have close internationals?)
: >The only thing I'm aware of varying the number of qualifiers from Regionals
: >to a Sectional is a number of entries...one Region in a Section can make
: >up shortfalls in another to bring the Sectional field up to 12.
: Another reason for varying the number of qualifiers is the number of
: competitors expected to get to Nationals based on Byes. The target is
: 15-16 total. Serious consideration was given in the 1994-95 season to
: reducing the number of qualifiers advancing from both Sectional and (due
: to Byes expected for Regionals but not Sectionals) and Regional
: Championships to 3. The purpose of the proposal was to meet the total
Double "and" here,what's intended?There used to be only 3 advancing from
Sectionals,into the '70s,I think
: target and allow higher-ranked skaters from the Detroit Nationals
Sandra Loosemore
Russian skating official (I didn't catch his name or what his exact
position was -- I'm not sure if he was a coach or judge or what)
during the ladies' final, and after the marks came up for Tonya's free
skate he sort of snorted at how high they were and said that 5.3's
would have been more realistic for what she had actually done. She
did only land two triples in the program, a salchow and a flip. Tonia
Kwiatkowski also made some mistakes, but she was also the only woman
in the competition to land a triple lutz in the free skate, and I
think the judges had reasonable justification for placing her above
Harding.
-Sandra
mary
I believe you are right. I was just quoting from one opinion on the
subject.
Billy Kutulas
I wrote:
Tonya stepped out of the landing on the triple loop--don't think she fell.
She also landed a triple flip.
No, you are wrong. I just reviewed the US Nationals Free Skate again, and
Tonya definately falls on her butt during the skate. After that, she
steps out of her triple loop.
What I meant was, "I think she stepped out of the triple loop rather than
fell." Yes, she did fall on her attempt at the triple toe-triple toe.
--
Billy Kutulas
gt7...@prism.gatech.edu
mary
You are right, and I was only half wrong. She did fall, but not on the
jump I mentioned. I used as part of my sources for this article the book
"Fire on Ice" by Abby Haight and J. E. Vader. In it they write she fell
on a triple loop. They also write, also about the free skate at the 1993
US Nationals, that " Tonia Kwiatkowski fell on an easier jump than
Harding missed, and had a hand down once. This made Tonya fans angry
that she was marked higher than her.
Another book I used was "Thin Ice" by Frank Coffy and Joe Layden. In it,
they write about her needing to qualify for the 1994 US Nationals by
competing in the Regionals but they don't mention Sectionals, which I
didn't have any knowledge of. Unfortunately, sometime you have to rely
on these sources. These authors are properly not that knowledgeable
about figure skating as you are.
I also used back issues of several Figure Skating Magazines and also
viewed video tapes I have of past Skate Americas, Worlds and US
Nationals.
I wrote this article about a natural gifted athlete failing to live up to
her potential. I hope you found it interesting to read.
Billy Kutulas
I used as part of my sources for this article the book
"Fire on Ice" by Abby Haight and J. E. Vader. In it they write
[Tonya] fell on a triple loop. They also write, also about the free skate
at the 1993 US Nationals, that " Tonia Kwiatkowski fell on an easier
jump than Harding missed, and had a hand down once. This made Tonya
fans angry that she was marked higher than her.
I haven't watched that video in a while, but I seem to remember Tonia K.
touching the ice, in some way or another, three different times in that
performance. But I may be remembering wrong.
I also used back issues of several Figure Skating Magazines and also
viewed video tapes I have of past Skate Americas, Worlds and US
Nationals....I wrote this article about a natural gifted athlete failing to
live up to her potential. I hope you found it interesting to read.
It was *very* interesting and comprehensive. Didn't mean to sound nit-picky
about some of the minor details. Thanks, Mary, for writing that and posting
it.
--
Billy Kutulas
gt7...@prism.gatech.edu
mary
You didn't sound nit-picky, plus I learned somethings.