Could it really have been 15 years ago today?

[Roy Hersh]

Tanya Harding and her dolt of a boyfriend carried out their plot and knee-capped Nancy Kerrigan. Tanya Harding, living in a trailer park in Oregon, tried out women's boxing for awhile ... but I've lost track of her ever since. Amazingly, she has never been found guilty of any felony and that 1994 moment of infamy is all but a chapter in the history books. Her 15 minutes of fame a distant memory.

Time flies by!

[Ray Barnes]

If my memory serves me correctly, she won the US Championship that year by having removed her primary competitor. In the World Championship, I believe, after missing a jump or two early in her long program, she tearfully skated to the judging area to complain of a problem with one of her skates. For some reason her dubious grievance was accepted and she was permitted to restart her program, but still did poorly.

Tonya also dabbled in pro wrestling briefly.

As to her present housing arrangements, I am not surprised at all.

Ray

[Glenn E.]

She did win the US Championships, but after the scandal broke her title was vacated.

The "broken skate lace" sobbing incident that you're recalling was at the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics, so an even grander stage than just the Worlds. Oksana Baiul won the gold and Nancy Kerrigan won the silver at that Olympics, so she got a certain measure of revenge through performing well. (And my wife says "don't start with the Oksana should have won/Nancy should have won debate.")

Josée Chouinard (or at least that's who my wife thinks it was) is the skater who had to skate much earlier than expected because of Tonya's meltdown, and while she didn't skate well at all she never protested or made any sort of big deal about it.

My wife was an adult figure skater, so I know far more about the sport than your average guy. I can even tell the difference between a Lutz and a flip.

[Ray Barnes]

There are few athletic events more exciting to watch than a flawlessly executed long program. Considering these skaters practice a routine a full year for a performance lasting about 5 minutes or less, it speaks of the extreme degree of difficulty of this sport.

Not too long ago the World Championships were held in Vancouver BC, I was fortunate to get a full set of tickets, with a Canadian team winning the Pairs competition. (I believe it was Isabelle Brasseur and Robert Eisler)

I still don't know what to make of the recent changes in judging rules and the scoring. Perhaps after the controversy in Salt Lake City, something had to be done.

Ray

[Glenn E.]

I still don't know what to make of the recent changes in judging rules and the scoring. Perhaps after the controversy in Salt Lake City, something had to be done.

Yeah, I'm not sure about the new rules either. I'm of two minds about them:

First, figure skating is an art form not just an athletic competition. (I'll avoid the argument about whether or not it is truly a "sport.") It can't be broken down into 1s and 0s without losing a significant part of what makes it great. Without artistry, all of the jumps and spins in the world cannot make a satisfying performance. The current system basically provides a formula for the skaters to use to figure out exactly what they need to include in their programs in order to win (or to have a chance at winning). Unfortunately, the new system went too far in some areas and not far enough in others, so it is arguable whether or not it is an improvement over the old system.

However, the judging system that used to be in place was clearly corrupt and desperately needed to be tossed out. Salt Lake City was just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak, and so some sort of change was necessary in order to restore at least some respect for the competition. Whether or not the new system is actually an improvement, it did manage to convince the viewing public that the corruption had been fixed so I think it was a worthy change.