Timesuck with Dan Cummins - Short Suck #56: Triple Axel, Triple Chaos: The Rise and Fall of Tonya Harding

Episode Date: April 24, 2026

Tonya Harding went from landing one of the hardest moves in figure skating history to being at the center of a real-life “what the hell were you thinking?” crime. This episode unpacks her rough upbringing, explosive relationships, and the unbelievably sloppy plot that turned Olympic dreams into tabloid infamy. Talent, dysfunction, and absolute chaos—this story's got it all. For Merch and everything else Bad Magic related, head to: https://www.badmagicproductions.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome to another edition of Time Suck Short Sucks. I'm Dan Cummins, and today I will be sharing the story of Tanya Harding. Does anyone not recognize that name? And does anyone not immediately think of the attack on fellow figure skater Nancy Kerrigan at the 1994 Winter Olympic Trials when they hear her name? Tanya rose to fame in 1991, when she became the first American woman to land a triple axle in competition. Super impressive. But then her success came crashing.

crashing down three years later when she pled guilty to hindering the investigation into the attack and was banned from competing in U.S. figure skating for life. And then for years and years, she has lived on in infamy. As tabloid fodder, largely, appearing in terrible low-budget movies, failing to prevent Pennhouse from releasing a sex tape of her, dabbling and boxing, and refusing to take responsibility for what many have thought she was definitely guilty of. orchestrating a hit, essentially, on her figure skating rival. The attack on Nancy Kerrigan remains one of the biggest scandals in U.S. sports history.

So let's meet Tanya and Nancy now, find out what happened, where they came from, where they are today, and learn all about this crazy story. Words and ideas can change the world. I hated her, but I wanted to love my mother. I have a dream. I'll plead not guilty right now. Your only chance is to leave with us. Tanya Maxine Harding was born in Portland, Oregon on November 12th, 1970 to parents Livona Golden and Albert Harding.

Livona goes by Sandy. Albert went by Al. Tanya's father was Sandy's third husband. Various sources online say Sandy has now been married anywhere from four to seven times. Damn. This matters in the story, I think, because Tanya's early life would mirror the kind of familial instability, relationship instability, I guess, of her mother. Tanya grew up as an only child, kind of.

Sandy had four kids from previous marriages, but one of those kids sadly died as an infant, and the other three were many years older than Tanya. Sandy worked as a waitress, as a bartender, or as a cook, always struggling to make ends meet, and Al didn't work much at all. He had various health struggles, not specified, when he felt well enough to work, I guess, he took on various odd jobs.

Money was always tight, and unsurprisingly, household tensions were high for most of Harding's childhood. And none of this was typical at all for the childhood of a figure skater. Most figure skaters grow up in upper middle class, if not truly affluent homes. Competitive figure skating is very expensive, truly one of the most expensive sports out there, especially if you have real talent for it and are doing it at a very high level. Cost can exceed $35,000. In some cases, they can exceed $50,000 plus annually. And as an article in People magazine would say,

Tanya came, quote, from the wrong side of the figure skating tracks. She would describe her and her family growing up as, quote, trailer trash. She started skating at a local rink when she was just three years old, though, taking lessons at the Lloyd Center Mall. She showed very strong athleticism from a very, very young age. When she was older, she would work at the rink in exchange for some time on the ice. She grew up in addition to skating.

In a free time, she would also enjoy hunting, fishing, and learning how to fix cars. Also not typical for a figure skater at all. Tanya was truly like the Joe Dirt of women's figure skating, and I'm here for it. Not a huge amount of crossover with hunting and figure skating. Not a lot of female figure skaters who are also getting under the hood on the weekends, switching out some spark plugs, replacing some fan belts and shit. When Harding began to start showing real promise for skating, her mom took on the role of a Chris Jenner-esque momager. Sandy saw Harding's success, according to both her and Tanya to some extent, as her success.

So Sandy paid for her lessons when she could, hand-seowed her costumes when she could in the hopes that she could lift the whole family basically up out of poverty. No pressure kit. If you don't become one of the biggest figure skaters in the world and get us a gold medal and all the endorsement money that comes with that, you fucked over mama's future. Now get out there and have some fun. Jump, spin, and smile, baby. Jump, spin, and smile. Tanya's childhood,

outside of what joy she got to experience through figure skating, was largely a big pile of heart garbage. Tanya will later say that while, yes, her mom did pay for her lessons and did take her to practices and competitions for years, she also hit her all the time,

consistently belittled her, telling her she was fat and ugly from early childhood on, and when she got a bit older, working fun positive adjectives like slut and horror to the mix. Sandy will deny most of that. Tanya was my little dynamo. She said in an interview with ABC in 2018,

I called her my little twinkle, my little star. But Tanya would say in an interview with ABC, it's for the same show, same expose in January of 2018. I don't think that there was more than one day a week sometimes that I didn't get beaten. and the two of them stopped talking around 2002 apparently. Tanya alleged that once as a teenager,

when she tried to leave the house in the middle of an argument with her mom, Sandy threw a steak knife at her. Sandy has denied that. She's denied physically abusing Tanya and any of her kids, for the most part. She did admit that she hit Tanya once at the skating rink and that she spanked her kids, you know, from time to time to teach them right and wrong. Sandy has also said that Tanya's childhood was not as impoverished as she has made it out to be,

saying, quote, Tanya herself called us trailer trash. We were never trailer trash. We had a beautiful new trailer. We didn't live in filth or dirt or anything that I would call unusual. She has also said that she worked overtime to pay for Tanya's lessons, costumes, and competition fees, and that her daughter has a long history of being very dishonest. So who knows who's telling the truth here? Either one of them, of course, could be lying.

I will say that there doesn't appear to have ever been a police or social work. investigation into Sandy Golden as far as being an abusive or otherwise unfit mother. Not that that means, of course, that the abuse couldn't have happened. I will also say that as I went to this story, my opinion started a change of Tanya, kind of went back and forth and, you know, just gut instinct. I do think she is very dishonest, dishonest a lot of the time. I mean, that's just my opinion. Don't have anything, you know, real to base it in other than what you're going to hear coming

forward, but I would take a lot of what she says about her life with a grain assault. In addition to the alleged abuse by her mother, in her 2008 biography, the Tanya tapes. Tanya claimed that her half-brother, Chris Davison, sexually abused her starting around the age of five, and that when she was 15, she called the police on him, which allegedly led to his arrest, having been able to find, like, an arrest report, not that that's not out there. She's also said that Davidson is, quote, the only person I have ever hated. Tanya has talked in numerous interviews over the years about how she went to the rink to escape her terrible home life. She has said, I was the person I wanted to be when I was on the ice.

And before moving forward, Tanya claimed that she often made her own costumes, not her mom, and that in early competitions, the judges would deduct points for their low quality, which was humiliating. She also said she did not get to access special training. and dietitians, et cetera, like many of her fellow skaters did. She told the New York Times in 2018, I was always told I was fat. I was ugly.

I wouldn't amount to anything. If you don't smile and follow through, then they're not going to give you the marks. If you wear that ribbon, they're not going to give you the marks. If you wear that dress, they're not going to give you the marks. And again, I will say,

while I obviously can't speak to the truth or not of her claims, Tanya has, in my view, always carried herself with a huge, chip on her shoulder, like one you could see from space. I would say that even if some of her claims aren't true, she very likely believes that they are. Even back in 2018, when she finished in third place on Dancing with the Stars, when the host asked her how she felt about her finale routine, which the crowd loved, by the way. And I thought she did fucking fantastic.

She's very talented athletically. She said, quote, this was my last dance, and I was here to prove that I belong here. And just like the way she said it, it was actually pretty sad. Like she clearly still felt like everybody doubted her. Everybody wanted her to fail. You know, before her infamy from the attack on Nancy Kerrigan, she seemed to feel that way also. And well over two decades later, you know, still seems to feel that way to me. I actually met her years ago when she and I were on the same TV show.

We were both cast members of True TV's World's Dumbest. I think they still re-air the shit out of that show. I was not, I'll admit, or this show was not, I'll admit exactly highbrow entertainment, pretty straightforward, right? The show featured clips of people doing really dumb shit. And then comics and celebrities, often infamous, lower level celebrities would pop up on screen and make some snarky comments. It was pretty fun. We would all tape our comments in front of a green screen in a studio in either Los Angeles or New York. And one day, Tanya was taping her comments right after I was done with mine.

she's sitting in the makeup chair I went over, introduced myself she exuded some of the strongest don't you even think about fucking with me energy out of anyone I've literally ever met like exuded palpable paranoia and defensiveness just out the gate

now how much of that was because people had truly been fucking with her for years and years and years since she had become the butt of so many jokes by that point as opposed to how much of that was just who she was like who she was like who she had long been since childhood is anyone's guess. But interesting person.

Despite feeling like the world was against her, Tanya was determined not to give up on figure skating when she felt picked on for her costumes or jealous of the support her peers had. She desperately wanted to prove everybody wrong and to be the best. I imagine I would have rooted for her prior to the Nancy Kerrigan. Had I cared about figure skating back then, right?

I've always loved an outsider. It's fun to root for an underdog. Tanya knew she had a gift And on the technical level Her ability to execute and land Highly difficult acrobatic maneuvers She really was the best in the country If not the world for a little while

One of the best For sure an Olympic gold medal Truly was within her reach She was always a little rough around the edges As far as her artistry went But athletically Easily one of the best in her class No one could jump quite like

she could. She is still widely considered to be one of the most technically powerful jumpers in the history of women's figure skating. In 1987, when she was 16, Tanya would earn second place at Skate America, an international competition organized by U.S. figure skating. She blew the judges and competitors away with her jumping ability in particular. The, you know, just five-foot-one muscled spark plug of just electricity, right? She could fly out on the ice. 1989, Tanya would take third at the U.S. figure skating championships at the age of 17. The following year in 1990, still a teen, Tanya, won Skate America and the Nations Cup competitions.

Backing up a bit now to 1987, when Tanya was 16, her parents got divorced, she dropped out of high school. It was her sophomore year to pursue ice skating full-time and also would move out of the house. She will later earn her GED. Backing up a little bit further. She was just 15 years old when she met 17-year-old Jeff Galooly, recent high school graduate, conveyor belt operator, and according to many people, just an all-around piece of shit. Abusive, controlling, and abrasive.

Nobody, it seems, enjoyed seeing that clown show up at the skating rink with Tanya. And it doesn't seem anyone who cared about Tanya was real happy when she got together with that douchebag. Her mom, Sandy, definitely opposed the marriage, later saying, I knew Jeff had a violent streak. He tried to break down the door because he thought Tanya had gone out with another boy. Yeah, he does appear to have been psychotic. However, Tanya would say in 1993 that after she dropped out of high school and moved out of the house,

became pretty estranged with her mother and the rest of her family, it was Jeff who helped pay for a lot of her figure skating costs and fed her and put a roof over her head. She would say that her career would have ended right then and there if not for him. Others seem to believe that Jeff, like Tanya's mom before him, was using Tons. Tonya, that he saw her as an investment, a possible future big payday. Tanya and Jeff would get married in 1990, when Tanya was still 19 years old, and it would not be a happy marriage. Tanya said many, many times that Jeff was physically abusive, and she did apply for a restraining

order at least twice during their brief marriage. Tanya said about the abuse she went through, quote, my face was bruised, my face was put through a mirror, not just broken onto it, through it, I was shot. that's true. She described an incident where Jeff once shot at the ground near her after pointing a loaded gun at her and that the bullet ricocheted up and grazed her face. Jeff, for his part, had denied this and other physical abuse. Tanya has said that she quickly became afraid of Jeff but felt like she didn't have anywhere else to turn

and adding to her complicated relationship with him, you know, he was her manager, became her manager during their time together. While married to Jeff, Tanya went on to win Silver at the, World Championships in March of 1991, where she completed the triple axle a second time. The previous month, February 16th, 1991, Harding had become the first American woman in history to land a triple axle. It is still, to this day, one of the most difficult jumps in figure skating, requiring a forward outside edge takeoff, three and a half rotations in the air, before landing backward

on the opposite foot. It is famously challenging because the forward takeoff forces and, extra-and-and-a-half forces and extra half turn compared to other triple jumps, making it a very high risk, high reward technical element, closer to a quadruple spin, really, than a triple spin. And Tanya was the first American to pull it off because she had more power, more raw athleticism than any other U.S. figure skater.

It had been landed by the first woman ever back in 1988 by Japan's Midori Ito, and so Tanya was the second woman, just in the world, to land it in competition. And I remember a lot of this well because I landed it myself for the first time around that same era back in 1991 when I was 14. I mean, like not on the ice. I didn't land it on the ice, but I did it on rollerblades.

And I didn't hit, I didn't hit a full three and a half rotations, but I did do a full 360. And I landed that. So I feel like I basically pulled off a triple axle. Can you imagine if I was serious? Oh, yeah, it's hard, bro. Oh, broke my ankle about, almost did, you know. I did that shit pretty much on rollerblades, local rink, you know, all grooving to some naughty by nature, OPP. Anyway, Tanya earned third place at the 1991 U.S. figure skating championships.

Then she finished fourth at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France. During that time, a rival in the U.S. emerged. Nancy Kerrigan. Nancy and Tanya were often neck and neck in competitions, regularly switching spots for who came out on top. For example, Tanya beat Nancy at the 1991 U.S. figure skating championships and at the 1991 world championships in Germany. But then Nancy would earn bras. Braves.

She got some bras. She won a fucking pile of them. That's how they would reward people in figure skating in past years. Go get your pile of bras. No, she earned a bronze medal at the 1992 Winter Olympics, one spot ahead of Tanya, knocking her off the podium. Like Tanya, Nancy. was unsurprisingly, also an exceptionally talented figure skater from a very early age.

Nancy Ann Carrigan, born October 13th, 1969, just some 13 months before Tanya, across the country in Stoneham, Massachusetts. Her parents are Brenda and Dan Carrigan. Nancy was the youngest of three kids, only girl in the family. She often joined her brothers at the neighborhood ice rink to play hockey. This made it easy for her to start figure skating at the age of six. Her childhood home was very different than Tanya's in the sense of familial stability. Neither one of her parents had ever been divorced. Neither one would get divorced.

Her dad worked as a welder, and her mom stayed home, raised the kids as a homemaker. There have never been any allegations of abuse, physical, sexual, or otherwise. They also were not affluent, though, or really even upper middle class. Definitely not, actually. Nancy's dad often worked three jobs

to help pay for Nancy's skating costs. Her parents even took out some loans to help, you know, keep Nancy going as she got older. And her dad drove the Zamboni at the local rink in exchange for Nancy's lessons. Unlike Tanya, though, Nancy herself, it doesn't appear as if she had to work growing up to help pay for skating. When a figure skating instructor told her parents about her potential, when she was very young, her family committed to doing everything they could to help her pursue an Olympic career. Nancy would win her first competition to Boston Open when she was just nine years old.

she continued competing in local and regional competitions. Nancy, like anyone I imagine, who, you know, makes it all the way to the Olympics, gave her all to her sport. She would wake up at 4 a.m. most mornings so she could go train before school. That's some serious commitment for somebody who's not even an adult yet. After high school graduation, she enrolled in a manual college in Boston and majored in business, also entered and won the National Collegiate Championships after her first year in college. Fucking wild.

that she was going to college full-time while also competing at the highest levels of competition. The next year, she would earn gold at the Olympic Festival, not the Olympics, which allowed her to represent the U.S. at the 1992 Winter Olympics, where she would win a medal. She would take bronze. Harding fell just shy of the podium, placing fourth.

Nancy had taken, I think I just mentioned that earlier, but now from this other perspective. Nancy had taken second in the short program where Tanya took six, Nancy took third, and the free skin. Tanya took forth. Had it not been for Nancy, obviously Tanya would have meddled. Also, had Tanya not fallen while attempting a triple axle during a more technically difficult routine than Nancy's, she would have beaten her. Nancy by this point had become America's sweetheart. And the judges and various commentators were constantly comparing her to Tanya. Nancy was considered a much more polished traditional skater, had a more traditional skaters build, but didn't have. Harding's jumping ability. Nancy was considered beautiful, quiet, classy, while Tanya did not always come across as elegant and poised as she did. That same year, Nancy also won her first national title at the U.S. Nationals in Phoenix, Arizona, and landed a bunch of corporate sponsorship contracts. This money had been recently opened up to Olympic athletes who could now make money off of their sport and still go for the gold. Companies like Campbell's Soup, Reebok, Seco, Washington, watches sponsored Nancy. Professional athletes had been permitted to compete without restriction for the first time in this way, just a few years prior in 1988. The sponsorships fueled the rivalry big time. The money Nancy was now making for, you know, for sponsors, from sponsors, you know, it just made her training and travel so much easier in so many ways than it was for Tanya. But then Nancy performed poorly at the 1993 World Games in Prague placing tent. She felt

humiliated, even told reporters, I just want to die. She saw a sports psychologist after those games, something Tanya probably couldn't afford. She limited her public appearances, completely dedicating herself to training towards her goal of a gold medal at the Olympics. And then she would win two major international competitions at the end of 1993. And now Tanya is thinking she has to win gold in 94. She has to defeat Nancy to get the sponsorship money she's so coveted. and the Olympics were just two years apart at that time,

if you're wondering, due to the transition from holding both summer and winter games in the same year, towards a new schedule where they alternated every two years. Now let's back up again and catch up with Tanya's personal life around this time. The early 90s were very tumultuous for Tanya. On June 17, 1991, Harding filed for divorce from Jeff Galooly, citing irreconcilable differences. Two days later, she received.

received a restraining order against him, saying, quote, he wrenched my arm and wrist, pulled my hair, and shoved me. He bought a shotgun, and I'm scared for my safety. Shortly afterwards, she said she was the victim of acquaintance rape, quote, by a friend of mine who I knew for eight years. Obviously, this is all fucking terrible if this is what's happened. Then in the summer of 1991, she became engaged to mechanical engineer Mike Pliska. Then very quickly after that, he ends their engagement after he sees Harding disrespecting people, he said, and giving her phone number to another guy.

In the fall of 91, she dated a Canadian banker for a little while before deciding to reconcile with Joluli, saying they were still in love and seeking counseling. She withdrew filing for a divorce. Then on March 10, 1992, Harding got into a serious road rage incident with some unnamed woman in Portland,

where she still living. The first deputy on the scene saw Harding holding a fucking baseball back and the woman she was fighting had broken glasses. It looked like she'd already been hit. The incident ended in apologies and no criminal charges would be filed. In both March and July of 1993, the police were called to Harding and Joluli's shared apartment after reported arguments.

After the July incident, Harding was granted a second restraining order and again filed for divorce. In the midst of all that, sometime in the late spring and early summer of 93, she also dated a guy named Tom Arant, who spoke about. Harding to the Oregonian, he said that she would complain about Joluli all the time, yet constantly contact him. He said, quote, she just couldn't stop talking to him. That summer, random dude from Harding's gym claimed to the Oregonian that Harding offered to pay him to, quote, take care of Joluli, to, quote, slap him around a little. He said he was offended and that he

declined. On August 28, 1993, Harding and Jolini are granted a divorce. 10 days later, Harding's lawyer asked the restraining order to be lifted against him because the couple wished to reconcile again. So much fucking personal drama. And this is happening as she is training for the Olympics. On October 2nd, 1993 at approximately 3 a.m., neighbors of the couple called the police when they hear arguing outside and then a single gunshot. The neighbors reported seeing Jaluli pick Harding up, place her in a truck, and they feared that Harding had been shot. A police officer stopped the truck, confiscated a found shotgun and a 9mm beretta, a pistol that had been recently discharged. The officer then interviewed Harding and Joluli separately about what had happened.

Their stories did not match. Joluli first stated that the gun had fired when he was carrying it. Harding admitted she fired the gun and was worried about the bad publicity over that. Jolulu said that Harding had been moving her possessions into his truck when they started to have an argument about a former girlfriend of his and then he declined to press charges. then in November of 1993 the couple are evicted from that apartment for failing to pay rent and again, Tanya is dealing with all this shit

and maybe causing some of this shit while training to win Olympic gold how good could she have been with a much more stable personal life or did that chaos fuel her focus on the ice somehow? And now before discussing the event that made Tanya Harding infamous time for today's first to two mid-show sponsor breaks

If you don't want to hear these ads, please sign up to be a space lizard on Patreon. Get the catalog ad free these episodes early and more. Thanks for listening to those ads. And now let's return to the story and hear about the attack on Nancy Kerrigan. And then sometime in late 1993, Jeff Jaluli conspired to hire a hitman to assault Nancy Kerrigan at the U.S. figure skating championships. The goal was apparently to break her lake, to render her unable to compete in the 94 Olympics, and quite possibly end her career. Nasty shit.

Jeff contacted a friend to his, Sean Eckert, who sometimes worked as Tanya's bodyguard, and then Eckhart reached out to his acquaintance, Derek Smith, who hired his nephew, Shane Stant, to commit the assault. They were doomed to get caught. Way too many amateur people involved in this caper.

January 4th, 1994, and you're going to see it's not going to go well. January 4th, 1994, way to Detroit to compete in the 1994 U.S. figure skating championships to try and qualify for the Olympics. Tanya told the press, let me tell you, I'm going to go there and kick some butt. And it'd be fair to her she would. But maybe also in numerous ways. January 6, 1994, Nancy Kerrigan has a practice session for this same competition at Detroit's Kobo Arena. She had won this competition the year before, by the way. Cameras are following her. She finishes her routine and walks off the

ice and Nancy's as she speaks to a reporter or is about to speak to reporter, Shane Stant runs up, hits her right knee with the metal baton. Then, you know, after that, smashes through a glass door with the same baton and escapes into a getaway car. The cameras capture her on the floor, holding her knee and sobbing. And I can actually play a clip of this. Actual cameras being nearby certainly added to the media storm that will follow this attack. So she's just walking off. the ice and the big arena

after her routine. Not many people around. Goes through a little curtain. And then she gets hit. You hear her squeal. I don't know. It's a hard, hard, black stick. Something really really. Fucking crazy. Just gets jacked. Like, she was just

about to give an interview. Can you imagine you're hours away from some big competition? You're just walking over to like a reporter. and then some goon with a bat essentially just takes a home run swing on your leg so fucked up I'm sure some of her you know

response there is shock in addition to pain but I'm sure also fucking hurt a lot getting hit in the knee her new or oh my god her kneecap was bruised and quadriceps tendon was bruised as well but thankfully no broken bones however the injuries were severe enough

that she pulled out of the competition the following night you know her knee's fucking swelling up she's got to get more tests on it two days later, January 8th, 94, Tanya wins gold at this same championship. And that guarantees her a spot at the 94 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. Much to Tanya's likely dismay,

famous figure skater Michelle Kwan, who finished second and would go on to medal in 1998 and 2002, would give up her spot, though, so Nancy could compete on the Olympic team. Never hear a bad word about Michelle Kwan. Tanya would later say that after the attack, she was worried because the assailant had not gotten caught. She maintained that she had no prior knowledge of the attack,

despite others saying she for sure did know. She said publicity, or I'm sorry, she said publicly, that she called Jeff for reassurance after this attack and that she had no idea, you know, who was involved. Tanya and her bodyguard, Sean Eckert, would return to Portland January 10th, 94. Next day, the FBI begins investigating allegations that Sean and Jeff Joluli

had orchestrated this attack on Nancy Kerrigan. The investigation started after Portland minister Eugene Saunders told investigators he heard a tape of Eckhart, Joluli, and hitman Shane Stant, discussing the hit. They called it a hit. Saunders was a friend and classmate, former classmate of Eckerts at Pioneer Pacific College,

and Eckhart just fucking played the tape for him at his house like a complete fucking moron. Why did Eckhart play that for him? I truly think because he was not a smart man, literally played it for several acquaintances within days of the attack, I guess for bragging rights. Just thought it made him look cool to be part of the attack on Nancy Kerrigan

that was getting national media coverage already. Dude, pretty sure that rule number one regarding orchestrating an attack is not telling anyone you orchestrated the attack, not giving them evidence. Now Jeff Jaluli acknowledges to the Oregonian that he was one of two men being investigated, but he told the paper he was not involved in the attack.

Sean Eckert also speaks to the Oregonian this day, says, quote, I would never get involved in anything like that. That would be jeopardizing my future, my career. I mean, that's not something I could do or allow. Oh, Sean, you dumb motherfucker. If you really didn't want to jeopardize your future, you wouldn't have kept playing that tape.

Hey, guys, listen to this big crime I talk about being involved in. The very next day, January 12th, Sean Eckerman makes a full confession to the FBI. Literally the next day after him saying, no, what? I would never get involved in something like that. That's not something I could do or would allow. Cut to next day. Yes, I did all of that.

I'm very sorry. I'm so sorry I did all of that. Yeah, I made a full confession of the FBI. He implicated Jeff, Tanya, and two associates. He sold it so fast. He said that he arranged for the attack that Shane's Dan executed the attack and that Shane's uncle Derek Smith was the one who was the getaway driver. What a classy family also.

Hey, uncle, can you drive me away from the arena after I bash some poor Olympic hopeful woman's knee in? Oh, hell yeah, nephew. Let's fucking go, bro. Sean Eckert and Derek Smith were arrested, both charged with conspiracy to commit second-degree assault. Shane Stant surrendered to the FBI in Phoenix on January 14th, 94, and then he was also charged with conspiracy to commit assault. And now, the United States Figure Skating Association is deliberating on whether or not Tanya should be allowed to compete. in the upcoming Olympics. Meanwhile, Nancy Kerrigan, to her immense credit,

returned to practice January 16th, just 10 days after being attacked. Tanya separated from Jeff, yet again, two days later, January 18th, and publicly declared her innocence. At the same day, she met up with investigators and talked to them for more than 10 hours. The next day, January 19th,

Jeff Kaluli turned himself in after a warrant was issued for his arrest. Meanwhile, Tanya continued to deny her. involvement in the attack. She returned to practice January 21st, while a grand jury heard testimony in the case. On January 22nd, investigators flew to Los Angeles to interview Nancy Kerrigan. The following day, investigators decided they had enough evidence to arrest Tanya Harding, but wanted to wait to build an airtight case against her. January 26 and January 27th, Jeff confesses to the FBI for over 17 hours, implicating himself, Tanya Harding, Sean Eckert,

Derek Smith and Shane Stant in the conspiracy. Jeff would claim at this time that Tanya was indeed the one who orchestrated the attack. Now, is that true? Or was he just trying to save his own ass? On January 27th, Tanya read a statement to the press, admitting that she had failed to report that she did know about the assault after it had already happened. With a shaking voice, Tanya said, quote, despite my mistakes and my rough edges,

I have done nothing to violate the standards of excellence, of sportsmanship that are expected in an Olympic athlete. I had no prior knowledge of the planned assault on Nancy Kerrigan. I am responsible, however, for failing to report things I learned about the assault when I returned home from nationals. Many of you will be unable to forgive me for that. It will be difficult for me to forgive myself. So she says all the right things.

14 years later in 2008, Tanya will tell People magazine that she had overheard Jeff discussing a cover-up following the attack. She said she spoke to a lawyer, but before she could expose him, she claimed that he forced her into his car, drove her up into the mountains, raped her at gunpoint while two other men watched. She said she didn't report that rape because she was ashamed. And then Tanya's godparents, Greg and Linda Lewis, would tell people magazine that Tanya had told him about that rape back in 1996.

What the fuck? If that happened, obviously, Jeff is a fucking monster. January 31st, Nike, the company Nike pledges $25,000 to help keep Tanya in the Olympics. A Nike spokesman would say that CEO, Phil Knight, himself, offered the money to help Tanya defend herself because of his concerns for athletes' rights to due process.

That same day, Jeff's lawyer, Ronald Hovitt, spoke to the press and said that Tanya was, quote, in on it from the very beginning, that she had allegedly been involved in the plot since early December, after she had finished in fourth place at a skating contest in Japan, and she was worried that Nancy Kerrigan was going to take her spot at the Olympics. Next day, February 1st, 94, Jeff pled guilty to racketeering in exchange for a 24-month sentence. And all of this is constantly in the news, by the way. Neither Tanya nor Nancy can go anywhere without reporters showing up and asking them about it all. Jeff now said that Sean Eckert had come up with the idea to do something to Nancy. After a figure skating competition in Japan, he said that Tanya felt like Nancy was the favorite among U.S. figure skating officials and that she wanted to remove her as an obstacle. According to Jeff, on December 28, 1993, he met with Sean Eckert, Derek Smith, and Shane Stant at Eckert's home. He said that Tanya absolutely knew they were going to discuss how they could prevent Nancy from competing and was all four.

for it and that in fact Tanya was the one who dropped Jeff off at this meeting and then picked him up and talked about it when it was all over. Jeff said he took $3,000 to the meeting also brought Nancy's photograph and information about her skating rink, the Tony Kentorina. Jeff said it was Tanya who had obtained the name of the skating rink a day or two prior.

After this supposed December 28th meeting, he said that Tanya approved the plan and gave the green light for them to go ahead with the assault. So fucking wild if true. like imagine the story within the context of like another sport imagine if uh in the 1990s Carl Malone the Utah Jazz

had hired somebody to break Michael Jordan's legs so that he could finally win a fucking NBA championship or if Phil Mickelson had hired someone in the early 2000s to break both at Tiger Woods arms or if Venus Williams had hired someone to break her sister Serena's arms 20 years ago so she could get more tennis championships it's so crazy

And before talking more about the fallouts, time for today's second of two mid-show sponsor breaks. Thanks for listening to those sponsors. Now let's return to the investigation into the attack on Nancy Kerrickon. Tanya, still according to Jeff, called the Tony Cannerina from her home to determine Nancy's practice schedule. Later that evening, Jeff said that he and Tanya went to Eckert's house where Jeff paid Eckert $2,000, and Tanya gave additional information about Nancy. That feels very cheap. for what they're asking for.

$2,000 to disable a celebrity athlete? The conspirators agreed, apparently, to commit the attack for $5,000. Okay, they bartered up only because, and they actually wanted more, but they were willing to do it for $5,000 because they believed they would then get rich later offering, I guess, expensive bodyguard services to other figure skaters who were now scared about their safety after this attack. And that is a very dumb plan. These guys were not part of some prestigious bodyguard service.

They were not elite fucking security. Why would they think that they would be the ones to get hired after that? Well, again, because they are fucking as dumb as a box of rocks. Tanya was allegedly upset that the assault had not taken place by New Year's Eve. So she confronted Sean and Jeff on January 1st and compared, excuse me, complained that no one was able to do this thing for her. And then she demanded that Eckert gave back the money to her or give back the money to her. This is again according to Jeff. Then when Tanya arrived in Detroit for the competition in January,

she allegedly learned. Shane Stant and Derek Smith were also there. So she obtained Nancy's room number and practice schedule, which she then forwarded to Jeff. And Jeff then faxed the information to Eckert, who shared the facts with Smith and Stant. They fucking faxed that information. Wow.

What a way to have it in writing in at least two places. from two locations. These guys were so bad at this. Jeff, I love that. I love faxing details of a crime. Hey, what's our crime plan for this, for this assault? What's our plan for this felony going to be?

Can you fax it to me? Can you write it all down carefully, including my name? Everybody else's name involved, exactly what we're going to do, and then fax that to me, like a fucking moron. Jeff also said that he and Tanya

were under surveillance when they returned to Portland on January 10th, and that they had met that night to create a cover story. His attorney, Ronald Hovet, issued a statement. It said in part, Jeff has a message for Tanya.

He hopes that she will now do what he has done and move quickly to resolve the charges that will surely be brought against her. Denial is no longer plausible. The truth about this bizarre crime has now been revealed. That obviously was not good for Tanya's public image.

Most people, it seemed, were already pretty sure that she was guilty before that came out. Now she looks very, very guilty. She looks petty, jealous, unstable, violent, vengeful. On the day of Jeff's plea, the owner of the dockside tavern, a restaurant in Portland, found suspicious papers in his dumpster. There were notes about Nancy's practice location, the number of her arena, and her schedule. The owner turned those papers over to the FBI. Those guys were not criminal masterminds at all. Why wouldn't you just burn that? Why would you

Why would you fucking leave that in a place where apparently it was very easy to find? This is like a masterclass in how not to plan a crime. February 3rd, it was reported that the notes were written by Tanya Harding, and this was confirmed by handwriting expert. So now she looks very, very guilty and looks like a huge liar. The notes were supposed to enable the co-conspirators to send some threatening letters later to Nancy and scare her further. On February 5th, the U.S. Figure Skating Association meets to discuss these serious allegations against Tony they scheduled a disciplinary hearing

and they gave Tanya 30 days to respond to the charge that she had done something detrimental to the welfare of the sport of figure skating. Five days later on February 10th, Tanya sued the U.S. Olympic Committee in an effort to prevent a hearing on whether she should participate in the Olympics or not. Tanya then dropped the suit two days later on February 12th

and then the Olympic Committee decided to cancel the hearing. After all this, Tanya would still be able to skate in the Olympics since she had not been arrested and there was no time before the Olympics were just, they were just days away at this point there was no time to properly investigate her, you know, like as far as the Olympic Committee for them to do it themselves.

The U.S. figure skating association said there was no evidence at that time to properly contradict her denials that she was involved in the conspiracy. So she would continue to say that Jeff and the others, they were all lying about her involvement. And so, after all that shit, Tanya and Nancy are back on the ice together

for a practice session on February 17th, 1994. Practicing in the same rink at the same time, how wildly awkward for both of them. Nancy wore the same outfit she had on when she was attacked. She told the press when they asked her how she felt about being around Tanya at this point. She said, quote, humor is good. It's empowering.

February 25th, 1994, the night of an Olympic event, Tanya stopped performing during her first skate due to a broken shoelace. This is the night of Tanya's Olympic event. She starts crying out on the ice. She talks to the judges. She looks very rattled. She is then allowed to reskate,

but then she places eighth in the competition. Well off of the podium. She did not seem like she was at her best, not even close. When Nancy was asked about the lace incident the next day, she said, you know, it's always something with Tanya. True or words have never been spoken. Nancy would go on to beat Tanya by fucking, leaps and bounds, and she would earn herself a silver medal and then say afterwards that the hit

to her leg had not affected her performance, that she was too mentally strong to have let it affect her performance. Good on her. Many people called what happened with her and Tanya at this Olympics karma for Tanya. Nancy only lost the gold medal in the end by point one points to Aksonabayul, a 16-year-old Ukrainian prodigy. Nancy's public image took some damage after reporters caught her complaining about Oksana, though. She had mistakenly assumed she was waiting for the skater to get a touch-up before the medal ceremony and had said, thinking that, oh, come on, she's going to get out there and cry again. What's the difference?

Additionally, after her big win, Nancy was recorded on microphone complaining about having to participate in a Disney parade. While sitting next to Mickey Mouse, she said, this is so corny. This is so dumb. I hate it. This is the most corny thing I've ever done. I mean, is she wrong? I don't think so.

I would have fucking hated it too. A producer Steve Tisch, who was working on a TV biopic for Nancy, said to her defense, I think she was overwhelmed. I don't think Nancy, under the circumstances, had the time or ability to be schooled and dealing with celebrity because it came on so fast. Add to those the factors of stress and exhaustion and jet lag and cameras and microphones being thrust into her face, this was to be expected. Nancy needs time away from everything with a lens on it.

After the Olympics, Tanya still had to deal with the ongoing investigation and face allegations made by her ex-husband, Jeff Joluli. On March 16, 1994, she would plead guilty to conspiracy to hinder prosecution. She avoided prison time, but was sentenced to three years probation, a $160,000 fine, and 500 hours of community service. She also had to agree to resign from the U.S. Figure Skating Association. So her career is a skater, everything she had worked. towards since she was three years old all over. And she is widely hated across not just much of America, but much of the world. When asked for a statement in court, she simply said, I'd just like to say I'm really sorry

that I interfered. Tanya's attorney told the court he wanted to make it clear. Tanya was not conceding guilt. However, Deputy District Attorney Norman Frank said there was, quote, substantial evidence to support Ms. Harding's involvement prior to the assault. She's not going to plead guilty to it, but I think the facts speak for themselves. I didn't say we didn't have enough to indict on more. Had this agreement not taken place, we would have proceeded with indictments on other pertinent charges.

Tanya also issued a statement through her attorneys, I am committed to seeking professional help and turning my full attention to getting my personal life in order. This objective is more important than getting my figure skating, I assume she meant in order. on March 21st a grand jury indicted Sean Eckert Derek Smith and Shane Stant on multiple charges now including racketeering and conspiracy to commit second degree assault the defendants all pled not guilty then about two months later on May 16th 94

Sean Eckerd pled guilty to racketeering of course he did I haven't done anything and then next day yeah no okay oh yeah I did do that fair enough you caught me so he played guilty to racketeering Derek Smith and Shane Stamp pled guilty to conspiracy to commit second-degree assault.

Smith and Stamp both sentenced to 18 months in prison. On June 30th, Tanya stripped of our 1994 National Figure Skating Title, officially banned for life from the U.S. Figure Skating Association, which was expected to happen. July 13th, Jeff Joluli, sentenced to two years in prison, fined $100,000 for racketeering. The bad press still not over for Harding, far from it. I think I forgot to mention there, but Sean Eckert will also get, I think, two years in prison. July 26, 1994, Pennhouse magazine announced their intention to publish nude images of Tanya from Tanya and Jeff's wedding night sex tape and their 25th anniversary issue.

Tanya's personal manager claimed Pennhouse denied that they were going to publish nude photos when he called to ask about rumors regarding the publication. A spokeswoman for Penhouse said they would not reveal how they got the video. and a spokesman for Tanya said she was going to possibly take legal action to prevent the release of the video. But that would not happen because Pentehouse would market the 35-minute sex tape, sell it via mail order for 2995, and then publish stills from the tape in their 25th anniversary issue. So now on top of being banned from her sport for life, anyone could watch a video of Tanya having sex in her wedding night. And she didn't make a dime off it unless she was the one who secretly sold it to them, which is possible. then on September 12th 94

Jeff Jaluli entered a prison boot camp completing the program successfully would allow him to leave prison six months later on December 24th, 1994 Tanya completed her first public skating performance since the February Olympics at the Clackamas Town Center in Oregon it was not quite as prestigious as the Olympics

she was dressed up as Mrs. Claus and it had to have been a bit humiliating most people it seemed showed up mostly to take pictures and laugh at her March of 1995, Jeff Joluli released from prison. After his release, he changed his name to Jeff Stone, and he got himself a job as a used car salesman, which feels about right. Tanya, meanwhile, shifted gears, decided to attempt a music career.

On September 3, 1995, Tanya and Golden Blades performed at a fundraising event in Portland, and it really didn't go well at all. They were literally boot off stage. God damn, during their first and only performance. quick fucking shelf life for that band her life is a dumpster fire right now uh it doesn't appear there doesn't appear to be any video out there of this performance

I don't know that one was even taken somebody on YouTube back in 2013 did upload a video of Tanya singing karaoke at some bar looks like it's probably in Portland uh it is I don't want to be a dick but it is pretty easy to see why her music

career didn't exactly explode and I say this is somebody who arguably sings worse than her let's hear just a little bit here that's how I feel like I sound at best every time I did karaoke I get I practically even get a fucking panic attack to try to do karaoke

I hate it I like watching it I like being around it it's fun to watch other people do it I do it at summer camp when we do it here but it every year I'm like oh god okay I've got to work myself up to do this and that's even just doing a song that's like easy to sing my daughter Monroe had me do some karaoke with her for spring break He took her to Cancun for spring break

That's what she wanted to do Because she could drink at 18 And she pulled me up there for a duet Oh my god, what even was it? Oh shit, I can't remember I probably should have thought this out before I started talking But for some random, oh journey It wasn't even a duet

That's right, we talked about trying to find a duet And she wanted me to sing Don't Stop Believing I can't fucking even come close to sing that song It was humiliating, but made her happy. December 23rd, 1995. Tanya married her second husband, Michael Smith. It was Smith's fourth marriage.

They would divorce less than a year later in 1996. Also in 96, Tanya appeared in the low-budget action film Breakaway, a story about a hitman who chases a mob courier when she takes off with $300,000. The film currently has no rating on Rotten Tomatoes because no one has taken the time to review. Almost no one. one critic did. A single rating exists from the movie report.com. And it says, quote, Tanya Harding lets out some of repent-up Kerrigan anger by pummeling a mob type with some not-so-nifty martial arts moves that make Elizabeth Berkeley look like Bruce Lee. I'd play a clip, but it's honestly more boring bad than funny bad.

Well, Tanya is clearly struggling. Nancy is doing great. Nancy Kerrigan is experiencing positive changes in her life. She received more endorsements, big lucrative ones. from companies like Disney, so they weren't too mad about what she said. She decided to retire from competition, focus on skating and paid productions, like theatrical productions. September of 95, Nancy married her agent, Jerry Solomon, and her first son Matthew was born in 96. In February of 1998, Nancy and Tanya would go face-to-face,

like see each other face-to-face for the first time in four years during a Fox TV special called Breaking the Ice, The Women of 94, revisit it. I hope Carragor got paid a lot for that. It was hosted by James Brown. I'm going to say, I feel good. Paua's got a brand new bag. It's a man's world.

Unfortunately, it wasn't that James Brown. This is a man's world. It was hosted by longtime sportscaster James Brown. And that James Brown also interviewed Tanya's ex-husband, Jeff. Jeff alleged that one evening before a test event in Norway, Tanya withdrew due to a medical condition. But that was fake. he made up that excuse he said made it up for her tanya claimed that jeff beat her up and often jeff acknowledged

excuse me beat her up and often and jeff acknowledged that he uh was in an abusive relationship with tanya but maintained that it was not physically abusive when asked why she stayed with jeff tanya said she was told to do so told to stay with him by someone very high up in figure skating that she needed to be with him because her life was stable with him and this is one of those things just reminds me of Tanya's mom's assessment of her, of what Sandy said, that she lies a lot. Why would somebody very high up in the figure skating world tell her that you have to stay with Jeff? You have to stay with that dirt back if you want to become the gold medal figure skater. I mean, I don't doubt everything that Tanya says, but I doubt a lot of it.

And I'm not alone. So many people, prosecutors among them, have been convinced that she is often full of shit. Jeff said about the conspiracy to assault Nancy. we felt we had such an investment involved we needed to carry it through. Tanya again denied at this time during this TV special that she conspired with Jeff to attack her competitor, also said she did not think of Nancy as an obstacle in her way, which a lot of people have refuted. Deputy District Attorney Norman Frank was interviewed again for the special, and he said that much of the handwriting on an envelope found in the trash that Portland restaurant was for sure Tanya's

that the notes linked Tanya to a phone call made from outside of Boston to Nancy's arena. that the caller was asking about practice times. Essentially, he was like, get the fuck out of here. She orchestrated this. Jeff explained that Tanya called the arena to find out if Nancy skated at certain times, which was then relayed by Sean Eckert to the conspirators to make threats against Nancy. In her interview, Tanya said she asked for the information because she had pictures of herself and Nancy on the competition podiums, and she just wanted Nancy to sign them.

I don't know. During her interview, Nancy said that she and Tanya had known each other since 1987, that they're even roommates once at an international competition. After the attack, others suggested to her that the possibility that another skater like Tanya was involved, but she didn't want to believe it. When asked about forgiveness, Danty said that she hoped Tanya would better her life and not hurt anyone else. So clearly, she believed Tanya was behind the attack on her.

Tanya addressed Nancy directly during their meeting and said, Nancy, I want to apologize for being in the wrong place at the wrong time around the wrong people. If I would have known anything in the beginning, I would have done anything I could to stop it. Anything. I mean, I would have dropped everything I had in my whole life to do that.

I say that. From the bottom of my heart, I really do. Kerrigan did not seem to buy that, and I don't either. Host James Brown, this is a man's world. Unfortunately not that. James Brown confronted Tanya, asking her about her conspirators.

about how they discussed the possibility of killing Nancy. Tanya claimed she did not know about that. Nancy said that she struggled with the pressure of being under the spotlight after the Olympics, that she withdrew from the public and lost a significant amount of weight but was able to recover her health. She would try to get pregnant.

It would take eight years for Nancy to get pregnant with her second child. Sadly, Nancy experienced at least six marriages or miscarriages. This made her feel like a failure, she said. Her doctors could not determine a cause for the miscarriages. And now we're talking about this. thing she said in interviews post that Fox special. Nancy went through IVF.

Her second son, Brian, was born in 2005, and then another daughter, Nicole, born in 2008. Or a daughter, excuse me, born in 2008. Nancy was inducted into the figure skating Hall of Fame in 2004 and served as a special correspondent for several Olympics. So she ended up doing very, very well. She competed on several ice skating shows, including skating with celebrities in 2006,

even made an appearance in the 2007 comedy Blades of Glory. starring Will Farrell. So good. Just a quick little cameo. Hey. Nancy Kerrigan. Hey. You an official here?

Because you have officially given me a boner. I love the look she gives him after he says that. Very funny. In the spring of 2007, Nancy competed on dancing with the stars. This brought attention to her role as executive producer of the documentary. Why Don't You Lose Five Pounds? Which discusses eating disorders among athletes.

I good on her. That's awesome. him after he was released from prison tanya's former bodyguard shan eckert changed his name to brian sean griffith and he would die of natural causes in 2007 at just the age of 40 shortly after his death his brother mike skinner said sean ecart died a long time ago there was no other person than brian griffith not entirely sure what he meant by that uh sean's death was listed as natural causes even though he was just 40 uh february 22nd 2000 tanya would be arrested after she punched her boyfriend, Darren Silver, in the face,

and threw a hubcap at him during a drunken argument. So she still had not gotten her shit together. Tanya pled guilty to disorderly conduct and malicious mischief. She spent three days in jail, then spent 10 days on a work crew. The judge suspended the remaining 167 days of her 180-day sentence and ordered her to refrain from alcohol use for two years. But then Tanya was cited for drunk driving, April 20, 2002, after she crashed her truck into a ditch in Battleground, Washington,

which is just about a half hour north of Portland, Oregon, crossed the river there. Her BAC was 0.16, twice the legal limit. She faced over five months in jail for violating her probation. The timing couldn't have been worse. She just had a month left on probation. Forcied for Tanya, on August 8th, 2002, she was sentenced to only 10 days in jail.

Tanya said, in court, quote, I'm grateful to the judge for giving me this opportunity. I finally found out what my problem is. It's alcohol. I'm glad it happened so no one gets hurt. I don't get hurt and I'm making something right in my life for a change. In the midst of these legal issues, Tanya appeared on the show Celebrity Boxing in March of 2002.

She won a fight against Paula Jones, who had sued former president Bill Clinton. Oh, fucking tricky, tricky bill. Oh, Slick Willie! There we go. Wrong fucking president. Slick Willie for sexual harassment. It was a terrible fight, but Tanya did win.

then on February 22nd, 2003, she made her official women's professional boxing debut losing a four-round split decision against Samantha Browning on the undercard of a Tyson fight in Memphis, Tennessee. Also fought comic Doug Stanhope when he was hosting the Man Show. Doug Stanhope, probably my favorite living comic, actually.

That guy, holy shit. Between 2003 and 2004, she actually fought professionally six times, winning three and losing three. Also broke her nose twice. Just doing whatever, I guess she could. to make some extra money now. Right before her brief boxing career, she'd been working as a skating instructor at a mall in Portland. In 2008, Tanya took on a job as a commentator for the show

World's Dumbest, so she could work with idiots like me, obviously rock bottom for her. She also promoted a book titled The Tanya Tapes, written by Linda D. Prouse, where she described her harsh upbringing and her fall from grace. I used it here and there as an extra source today. In the book, Tanya said that the scandal quote took everything away from me. In her 2018 interview with people, Tanya also said, I consider Nancy a friend. Of course, I feel guilty for what happened, but I can't dwell. I have to go on living. Fair on the not dwelling. I doubt Nancy considers Tanya a friend, though. But okay. Tanya added that she was done apologizing saying, you have to love yourself when I finally do. Sounds harsh, but this is who I am. And if you don't like me, tough. All right.

Over the years, Tanya has made guest appearances on shows like Roseanne, Larry King Live, The Weakest Link. Then in June of 2010, Tanya married her third husband, Joseph Price, an H-FAC worker. Met him weeks earlier after returning to Washington State from Los Angeles, where she had just wrapped up taping some commentary for World's Dumbest.

Hilarious. That honestly could have been right after I met her. She went out to a restaurant for drinks with a friend, saw Price doing karaoke. She was pregnant with his child just a few weeks later. Dude must have fucking crushed whatever he was singing, right? Don't stop believing, but he actually could do it. Tanya's son Gordon, her only child, was born February 27, 2011, when Tanya was 40. Years later, Tanya returned to the public eye when she appeared on the red carpet for the premiere of I-Tanya in December of 2017.

I-Tanya, a dark comedy starring Margot Rabe, who crushed it. I've heard, I haven't seen it. The movie explores Tanya's childhood or rise to fame and the aftermath of the attack. and it did very well. And again, I haven't seen it, but critics loved it, did almost $60 million at the box office off a budget of barely over 10. In a Rolling Stone review, Peter Travers wrote,

I, Tanya is funny as hell, but the pain is just as real. You laugh till it hurts. Nancy Kerrigan was asked for a statement about the movie, and I love what she said. She said, I was the victim. That's my role in this whole thing. That's it.

I haven't seen the movie. I'm busy living my life. I love it. Shut the fuck up. Get away from me with these stupid fucking questions, you idiot. You think I'm going to rush out and see a Tanya Hardy movie? Are you insane?

In January of 2018, ABC released the special truth and lies, the Tanya Harding story. And fucking finally, after so many years, after the statute of limitations is up, Tanya admits that she, quote,

knew that something was up a month or two before the attack, but maintained she never agreed to or knew about the plan to attack Nancy. She told ABC, I did, however, overhear them talking about stuff where, well, maybe we should take somebody out so we can make sure she gets on the team.

And I remember telling them, I go, what the hell are you talking about? I can skate. But they were talking about skating and saying, well, maybe somebody should be taken out so then you know she can make it. Tanya said she was nothing more than a pawn, adding, I'm always the bad person and I've never understood that. Never mind. She didn't fess up. She didn't take responsibility. She played the victim card to get people to feel sorry for her instead.

I don't fucking buy any of that. The same month, Shane Stant spoke to Inside Edition and apologized for attacking Nancy. He confirmed that there were discussions about doing worse to her, including slicing her fucking Achilles tendon, like some shit out of a horror movie. My God, but he said he was unwilling to do something like that. Stan explained how he was able to go through with it, saying, but at the time you're not humanizing the person, this is kind of a job in what you're doing. He described how he hit Nancy once and then didn't look back as he fled the building.

He said he was paid $6,800 for the job and thought he would get away with it. He said he had no problems morally with what he did until he saw the effects of his actions on TV, right? Here's Nancy crying. And that made him feel guilty. He said he personally does not know if Tanya was aware of the plot beforehand. He claimed he had never met her.

He also told Inside Edition that he's a different person now, said he changed his life, got a job as a bouncer, and now owns a delivery company in Southern California. The issue of who was involved and what transpired on January 6th, 1996, 1994 is no mystery. We know what happened to Nancy Kerrigan. But there are still questions that remain unanswered. The most important of which is,

did Tanya Harding order the attack on Nancy Kerrigan, as her ex-husband alleged, or is she telling the full truth about her involvement? I think, as much as I want to like her sometimes, as much as I do believe that some terrible shit happened to her, I think Tanya is a deeply troubled person who refuses to own up to what she almost certainly did. it. That being said, I don't wish her any ill will. I doubt Nancy Kerrigan does at this point either.

If she was guilty of planning the attack, she was punished for it by life. Right? Her life became shit for a long time. Currently, according to recent articles I've read, she seems to be living a very stable life, raising her son, enjoying being married to Joe Price. She was very recently interviewed by a blogger Carrie Eggers just this past December, said she was living in Battleground, Washington, less than 30 miles north of her hometown of Portland. I think she's been there a while. She now goes by Tanya Price, does custodial work for some local businesses, right?

Cleans of a night, it sounds like. Her and her husband, her son, they're all in pretty good health. Her kids are doing well in school. She's very fit, working on a mini documentary. At 55 years old, she still skates very well, still jumps, very well.

I watched a video on her Instagram. She said she would love to do Dancing with the Stars again. She's hoping they call her. She would like to own her own home in the near future, if possible. And to close out her interview, she said, I have to keep myself on the upbeat. I don't think negatively about things. I'm human.

Some things, you know, happen sometimes. But I don't dwell on it. Deal with it and work through it. That's the only thing you can do. Live life to the best to your ability every single day because you never know when it could end. Very true. Meanwhile, as of early 2026, Olympic medalist, Nancy Kerrigan, now 56, is thriving.

She remains very active in the skating world through coaching, performing in shows like Holiday Spectacular on Ice and acting as a skating commentator. She works as an advocate

for the Vision Impaired runs the Nancy Kerrigan Foundation and is a mother of three focusing on family life oftentimes. So I don't know. After all that drama, I guess this story kind of has a happy ending.

And that's it for this edition of TimeSuck Short Sucks. That was fun to do. I thought about that scandal a lot, but actually never really looked into it. If you enjoy this story, check out the rest of the Bad Magic catalog. Beefier episodes at Time Suck, Mondays at New Pacific Time, new episodes of Scared to Death, Tuesdays at midnight,

and two episodes of the fictional horror of nightmare fuel thrown into the mix each month on some Fridays. Thanks to Olivia Lee for initial research. Thanks to Logan Keith, polishing up the sound of today's episode. And please go to Bad Magic Productions.com for all your bad magic needs, and have yourself a great weekend. at Magic Productions.