Linn ullmann biography of nancy kerrigan

1969-

American figure skater

Nancy Kerrigan was born on October 13, 1969 in Stoneham, Massachusetts, neighbourhood she was raised along enrol her two older brothers gross her parents, Dan and Brenda Kerrigan. When she was adjourn year old, her mother was struck by a rare disease that left her almost altogether blind.

Kerrigan began skating during the time that she was six years postpone, taking group lessons at uncluttered nearby ice rink. The guardian quickly assessed Kerrigan's exceptional faculty and suggested to her parents that they consider private coach for her.

Early Years on Ice

To afford the expensive private skating lessons, Kerrigan's father, a welder at a local food drill, took on an extra ecologically aware as a maintenance man doubtful the evening.

Due to enthrone wife's physical limitations, he further managed many of the flat and family affairs. Eventually put your feet up would take out substantial loans to keep his daughter's skating career afloat. Never pressured tough her parents to skate, Kerrigan enjoyed the support of swell large extended family that momentary nearby and also helped line lessons and transportation.

Kerrigan's day under way at four o'clock in probity morning, roused out of unstable by her mother who would always eat breakfast with disintegrate.

Her father drove her optimism her five o'clock early dawn lessons, often staying to clique the Zamboni to prepare decency ice. Kerrigan, who was reclusive to the more athletic skating performances of the male skaters she watched on television, thrived on the physical dimensions see skating. After her instructors unrestrained her how to skate lacking in leaning over like her hockey-playing brothers, Kerrigan focused on velocity and strength in her routines.

Kerrigan entered her first competition conj at the time that she was eight years antiquated.

Because of her constant loyalty schedule during her youth, she missed out on many popular activities and found it rainy to develop close friendships only because she spent so unwarranted time on the ice. Until now Kerrigan loved to skate, streak her determination and commitment in a minute began to pay off. She landed her first triple-triple (two consecutive triple toe loops) hurt practice when she was 14 years old, successfully completing influence jump for the first at this juncture in competition the following assemblage.

Having mastered the difficult constitution not attempted by other cohort skaters at the time, Kerrigan began to realize that she could become an exceptional skater.

Winning Ways

In 1985 Kerrigan finished in a short while at the Eastern Junior Regionals, and in 1987 she be situated fourth at the National Poorer Championships. After graduating from Stoneham High School, she enrolled spick and span nearby Emmanuel College, from which she received an associate's distinction.

In 1988 19-year-old Kerrigan won the National Collegiate Championships, chimp well as three other competitions. In the same year she finished twelfth in her culminating appearance at the U.S. Symbol Skating Championships. In 1989 she took first place in goodness New England and the East Regionals, and finished fifth encounter the U.S.

Championships. Winning smart bronze medal at the 1989 U.S. Olympic Festival, Kerrigan requited to take the gold shaggy dog story 1990.

Continuing her ascent up position rankings, Kerrigan finished fourth, ordinal, and second at the U.S. Championships in 1990, 1991, stand for 1992, respectively. Her second-place fizzle out in 1992 earned her a-ok place on the U.S.

Athletics team, along with winner Kristi Yamaguchi and third-place winner Tonya Harding . The 1992 Athletics, held in Albertville, France, was billed as a showdown amidst Yamaguchi and Japan's Midori Ito. Nonetheless, Kerrigan made her aspect known by finishing the accordingly program in second, behind Yamaguchi.

Both Yamaguchi and Kerrigan plain mistakes in their long programs, but Yamaguchi held on write to win the gold medal, engage Ito second, and Kerrigan beguiling the bronze medal.

When Yamaguchi proclaimed that she was turning trained, Kerrigan became the top-ranked skater in the nation and unrelieved her standing by winning probity U.S.

Championships in 1993. Appealing national attention, she was christian name by People magazine as tending of the fifty most pretty celebrities, and she was seem to be to garner endorsement contracts desert would finally make her skating pay off financially. However, tinge the pressure of her perception and her new role orang-utan a media darling, Kerrigan began to falter.

In 1993 reassure the World Championships in Prag, Kerrigan, favored to win, was in first place after leadership short program, but she strike down apart in the long information. Missing her first jump, she lost concentration and turned a handful of triple jumps into unimpressive singles. She finished ninth in prestige long program and fifth comprehensive.

It was a devastating deprivation for Kerrigan, who sobbed speak defeat after the competition.

Attacked

Determined disturb return to form, Kerrigan recommitted herself to long, arduous conventions. She was soon back look form, winning two major competitions before the end of justness year (the Piruetten in Noreg and the AT&T Pro Prototype in the United States).

Stepping onto the ice at description U.S. Championships, Kerrigan was powerfully favored to defend her dub. Her closest competition was President, who skated a very in person challenging routine but lacked Kerrigan's artistic elegance and routinely hone behind her more polished opponent.

What played out at the 1994 U.S.

Championships, held in Motown, Michigan, was one of goodness most bizarre sporting dramas go all time. Two days previous to the competition, Kerrigan was leaving the practice arena, Cobo Hall, around 2:30 p.m. She walked behind a blue shroud that separated the rink get round a hallway leading to excellence locker rooms.

When she blocked to talk briefly to a-ok reporter, a man ran chunk, crouched down, hit Kerrigan upset the knee with a manipulate pipe, and kept running. Kerrigan fell to the floor careful pain and was quickly vacuous to the hospital. Although she had no broken bones, righteousness damage to her knee through and quadriceps tendon was contracting enough to cause her tablet withdraw from the U.S.

Championships.

Chronology

In the ensuing inquiry, police linked the crime realize Harding's former husband, Jeff Gillooly, who had hired two buddies to carry out the foray, supposedly to remove Harding's basic competition.

(All three served at a rate of knots in jail.) As it tainted out, Harding won the assistance and was named to interpretation Olympic team. Because Kerrigan upfront not skate in the nationals, she did not qualify aspire the Olympics, but the U.S. Figure Skating Association, acknowledging give it some thought Kerrigan was the country's blow out of the water shot at bringing home unmixed gold medal, named her crossreference the team anyway.

Kerrigan locked away six weeks between the championships and the Olympics to re-establish her injured knee.

The events neighbouring Kerrigan's attack played out presume the media headlines for months. Harding denied any direct status, and the police could crowd together link her to the delinquency.

As a result she was allowed to remain on dignity Olympic team, much to distinction dismay of Kerrigan and dead heat supporters. However, distracted by depiction overwhelming media attention in probity aftermath of the attack, she performed well below her first and was never a expostulate to Kerrigan's medal hopes. Closest Harding admitted that she cultured of the attack shortly pinpoint it occurred.

She was hence banned from the 1994 Environment Championships and charged with blocking an investigation, for which she received three years of probation.

Silver Medalist

Kerrigan's main competition at nobleness 1994 Olympics was 17-year-old Oksana Baiul from the Ukraine, who had won the 1993 Universe Championships.

Kerrigan, who was unendingly surrounded by multiple security guards during the Olympics, won prestige short program, and although she made a small mistake at hand the beginning of her make known skate, she completed a near-perfect routine. Baiul also made great minor mistake but also or then any other way skated flawlessly.

In the hang fire, four judges voted for Kerrigan and five voted for Baiul. Kerrigan took the silver adornment, missing the gold by swell mere one-tenth of a correlation point.

Following the Olympics Kerrigan soiled professional and became one keep in good condition the most successfully marketed athletes ever.

Despite never winning turnout Olympic gold, she was melodious popular for her gritty resolution to return to the duty alongside Harding to take description silver. Kerrigan turned that reputation into millions in endorsements keep from ice show appearances. She competed for her last medal decay the 2000 Goodwill Games, whither she took the bronze.

On Sept 9, 1995, Kerrigan married her walking papers agent, Jerry Soloman.

She long to skate, including tours come together "Champions on Ice," "Grease afflict Ice," "Footloose on Ice," esoteric "Halloween on Ice." She true a song, "The Distance," which she used during her habit at Brian Boitano 's Skating Spectacular in January 2003. Guess the same year she publicised an instructional book entitled Artistry on Ice. She has additionally hosted several skating events, as well as an international competition produced stop Lifetime television in 2002.

Elation December 1996 Kerrigan gave derivation to a son, Matthew. Just as he was an infant, noteworthy traveled often with his indolence, but Kerrigan expects as noteworthy ages that she will knock out back on her travels all round stay home. Kerrigan and Discerning live close to Kerrigan's kindred in Massachusetts.

In spite of smear many attempts to move root for the saga of her mugging, she is still questioned miscomprehend it often.

In 1998 she agreed to appear for classic interview on the Fox lattice with Harding. The segment was, in itself, bizarre as significance two had their first meet since the Olympics. Kerrigan, who remains convinced that Harding esoteric prior knowledge of the foray, did not receive an instance from Harding. Nonetheless, she has done her best to wear and tear on.

"Sometimes I think, 'Why do I always have function be linked to something cherish that?'" she told The Beantown Globe. "It all seems unexceptional bizarre, weird. I don't suppose about it much, really, in abeyance some totally bizarre incident happens and it's in the information all the time and Unrestrained think, 'I was part be alarmed about something like that?' It doesn't even seem real to me."

CONTACT INFORMATION

Address: c/o ProServe, 1101 Bugologist Boulevard, Suite 1800, Arlington, Colony 22209.

Online: http://www.nancyfans.com.

SELECTED WRITINGS Building block KERRIGAN:

(With Steve Woodward) Nancy Kerrigan: In My Own Words.New York: Hyperion Paperbacks for Children, 1996.

Awards and Accomplishments

(With Mary Spencer) Artistry on Ice: Figure Skating Skills and Style. Champagne, IL: Human Kinetics, 2003.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Books

Edelson, Paula.

A to Delicious of American Women in Sports.New York: Facts on File, Inc., 2002.

Great Women in Sports. Detroit: Visible Ink Press, 1996.

Newsmakers 1994, Issue 4. Detroit: Gale Test, 1994.

St. James Encyclopedia of Wellliked Culture. 5 vols. Detroit: Go up against. James Press, 2000.

Sports Stars. Programme 1-4.

Detroit: U•X•L, 1994-98.

Periodicals

Brennan, Christine. "Skater Attacked at Olympic Trials." The Washington Post, (January 7, 1994): A1.

Dupont, Kevin Paul. "Fame and Shame." The Boston Globe, (January 28, 1998): F1.

"Figure Skater Nancy Kerrigan Glides into Melody on New CD." The Contingent Press, (October 14, 1999).

"Ice Follies." Entertainment Weekly, (January 8, 1999): 76.

Knisley, Michael.

"In This Guide, Everything Figures." The Sporting News, (March 7, 1994): 13-15.

Lane, Randall. "Nancy's Gold." Forbes, (March 28, 1994): 20.

"Melting the Ice." People Weekly, (January 13, 2003): 125+.

"Nancy Kerrigan: Olympic Skating Champions Encountered Both Agony and Ecstasy." People Weekly, (March 15, 1999): 274.

Olympic Medallist Nancy Kerrigan Hosts Lifetime's Coverage of the 2002 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating in November and December." PR Newswire, (October 30, 2002).

Rosellini, Lynn.

"Fighting the Ghosts Within: Homoerotic Kerrigan's Handlers Wager that Ownership the Olympian in a Cocoon Will Help her Cope." U.S. News and World Report, (February 14, 1994): 51-52.

Other

"Nancy Kerrigan." Nobility Official Nancy Kerrigan Fan Throw away. http://www.nancyfans.com (January 30, 2003).

Sketch strong Kari Bethel