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Nancy Kerrigan

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Nancy Kerrigan (born October 13, 1969 in Stoneham, Massachusetts) is a two-time American Olympic figure skating medalist and 1993 U.S. champion.

Biography

Kerrigan began skating at age six. She grew up with brothers who played hockey, and often joined in herself. She describes herself as having been a "tomboy." She won her first figure skating medal at age nine. Kerrigan was coached by Evy and Mary Scotvold.

Her first placement at a major international competition was at the 1991 World Figure Skating Championships, when the United States team scored a medal sweep in the ladies' event. Kerrigan received the bronze medal behind Kristi Yamaguchi and Tonya Harding. She received a bronze medal in the 1992 Winter Olympics (Yamaguchi won the gold), and the silver medal at the 1992 World Championships. The following season she became United States Champion and was leading the World Championship in Prague after the short program when a disastrous long program resulted in her tumbling to fifth in the standings and a win by Oksana Baiul.

Kerrigan gained considerable fame beyond the skating world when, on January 6, 1994, she was clubbed in the knee by Shane Stant, who was hired to assault her by Tonya Harding's ex-husband Jeff Gillooly and friend Shawn Eckardt. Following the attack, her screaming of the words "Whyyyy? Whyyyy?" has become well-known and is even included in ESPN's Sports Century video, which chronicles the most important sports moments of the 20th century. Though Kerrigan was not able to take part in the Olympic trials due to injury, the USOC gave her a spot.

Just a month after the attack, Kerrigan went on to win the silver medal in the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, finishing second to Oksana Baiul. Kerrigan was criticized for leaving the Olympic venue before the closing ceremonies to take part in a pre-arranged publicity parade at Walt Disney World, her $2 million sponsor, and then for being caught on microphone during the parade saying "This is dumb. I hate it. This is the most corniest [sic] thing I have ever done." She later said her remarks had been taken out of context: she was commenting not on being in the parade, but on having to wear her silver medal in the parade. Others have wondered if Kerrigan landed higher profile endorsements than gold medalist Kristi Yamaguchi because of the publicized incident, or her better fitting an "all-American" image.

Kerrigan retired from active competition after the Olympics, and is now married with two sons, Matthew and Brian. She has appeared in a variety of ice skating shows and played a small part in the 2007 movie Blades Of Glory with Will Ferrell, since turning professional.

Kerrigan also appeared in the 2006 FOX television program Skating with Celebrities.

Personal life

Kerrigan was born to Brenda and Dan Kerrigan. She has two brothers: Michael and Mark. She graduated from Stoneham High School and attended Emmanuel College in Boston to study business.

Kerrigan created The Nancy Kerrigan Foundation to raise awareness and support for the vision impaired. Kerrigan's mother, Brenda, is legally blind.

The tabloids have reported that she started dating her agent and future husband, Jerry Solomon, while he was still married to his first wife. But Solomon had been long separated from his first wife and they were headed to a divorce. In a Dateline NBC interview, she responded to the attacks and broke down because of the pressure on her everyday life. On 9 September 1995, she married Solomon. In December 1996, she gave birth to son Matthew Eric Solomon. On April 14, 2005, she gave birth to second son, Brian Solomon in Boston, Massachusetts. On January 7, 2008 Kerrigan's husband Jerry Solomon announced they are expecting their third child together. The family currently resides in Lynnfield, Massachusetts.

Competitive highlights

Event 1986-87 1987-88 1988-89 1989-90 1990-91 1991-92 1992-93 1993-94
Winter Olympics 3rd 2nd
World Championships 3rd 2nd 5th
U.S. Championships 12th 5th 4th 3rd 2nd 1st
Piruetten 1st
Skate America 2nd
Trophée Lalique 3rd
Nations Cup 1st
Goodwill Games 5th
NHK Trophy 5th

References

External links



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Last updated on Tuesday March 04, 2008 at 20:08:38 PST (GMT -0800)
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