1991 Nancy Kerrigan - Worlds SP

I think only Shirley Maclaine would have an easy time writing a synopsis of Nancy Kerrigan's career. An attractive girl who paid her dues and worked her way up the competitive ladder, she was known for great consistency....except in the one moment it mattered the most (93 Worlds LP). I suppose she is an example of "not being prepared mentally" to be World Champion. I can remember Kurt Browning helping a more naturally gifted skater, Kristi Yamaguichi over the hump.....it's a shame she apparantly chose R2D2 as her Jedi master!! (Some things just can't be programmed). I never heard a credible explanation of why she folded. I almost wish she had made up some outrageous claim like "I was out all night with Christopher Bowman" or "I ate baby salamanders for dinner last nite!" --- something that would have made, just a little sense!

Unfortunately, like the matriarch elephant going down on her knees, she was enveloped in a cacophany of malevolent forces that circled faster than a pride of hungry lions. In the end, the judges in Lillihamer had a choice between a "Princess of Perseverance" and "Little Orphan Annie"! To their great discredit, they were suckered by an emotionally manipulative alcoholic, and chose badly. At least Daddy Warbucks maintained some discipline in his household! Hopping off a triple flip has traditionally been a lethal injection for Gold medal hopes (not to mention a pathetic double axel). But, in an era where it's WHAT you do, not HOW you do it, Pretty in Pink won out.

Someone once wrote "Living well is the best revenge!", and I suspect the answer to the Nancy Kerrigan paradigm will be found in the Book of Life. So far, the many other participants in her story....don't seem to be fairing well.

But, to sum up her skating career, triumph does not always imply an Olympic Gold Medal!!!

I do have to criticize her for making the cardinal mistake of ladies figure skating....."the dress should never overshadow the skating"!! Expensive designer clothing only upped the game for the rest of the girls, adding to the already burdensome expense of the sport. What you're wearing should have no influence on the outcome of a sporting event, but you can no longer convince the "Total Package" crowd of that fact. It's not what your ARE, or what you DID, but WHAT you look like!!! And she certainly "Loooked Marveloussss!!" as do many skaters today. But what they have wrought is a 'pissing' contest for the wealthy and elite, where titles are ultimately bought for a constantly escalating price.

Many have said that Tonya/Nancy/Oksana was the highlight of figure skating history. I think it was one of skating's ugliest moments, and perhaps the first "death knell" for the sport.