We will never know. But an argument could be made that Kerrigan would have been in much better physical shape, and delivered a stronger program had she not had a distraction of an attack, rehabilitation and mental pressure. |
She is not America's sweetheart jeez |
In other words pp, yes that is exactly your position. |
Second chance at what? Harding wasn't incarcerated or exiled. She was simply banned from skating. She had plenty of second chances after her second career - she hasn't really made it ANYWHERE. Not sure what you mean. |
Yeah that's a tired horse. First, the reason everyone was waiting was not for Oksana's makeup; it was for the sound people to locate the national anthem of Ukraine. USSR split happened very recently and the anthems of all the newly independent republics haven't been fully metabolized into the system yet. Second, honestly Kerrigan could be forgiven for being a little peevish at that moment. She skated a clean program; she fully expected to win gold. The split between Nancy and Oksana went down to one judge: 5/4. It could have gone either way, it wasn't a case of one clear winner over the other. Reasonable people could disagree about who could have one that night. We forgive male players for kicking the board and swearing but we hold figure skaters to such an impossible standard that they aren't even allowed one word of discontent. Finally, as has been pointed out multiple times, Nancy isn't privileged or wealthy; she comes from a blue-collar, workingclass family. |
| The discontent of the 2nd place finisher is an old, well worn story. Why do people expect Kerrigan to not have those feelings. On a lighter note, remember that whole Mckayla Moorney is not impressed meme? |
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I also want to address the trope of "Harding was penalized and not given her due as an athlete because she wasn't elegant." That's complete bullshit.
Figure skating rewards elegance on ice not because people like pretty princesses. Judges give premium marks for elegance because skating elegantly is HARDER, much harder, than not. No skater is born skating elegantly. Those who deliver it on ice invest countless hours in ballet training, off-ice routines, extra attention to posture and finishing. It's much harder to land a jump and hold a long, clean, secure runout edge with a free leg stretched high and straight behind you, toe pointed. It's freaking HARD to do a long arabesque spiral on a clean secure edge for half the length of the rink - it takes great muscle control and effort. It's hard to extend every movement all the way through your fingertips, neck and head. It's much, much harder than skating without these things. THAT's why judges reward elegance on ice - because they know at what price it comes, and want to reward skaters who invest that extra effort. If Harding wanted to become elegant on ice, she could have done so. She chose not to, because it was easier. And even with all her faults, she did become a National champion twice. So it's not like she wasn't given her due when she skated better than others. |
| I want this woman to go away. I enjoyed the film though. |
| I think she could have been great if she practiced. She had more strength than any of the other girls. She turned that triple with sheer power. But she smoked, never practiced, was always caught up in her abusive lifestyle, and never really wanted to do what it took to get out. She wanted to show up 3 days before a competition and win and have america like her. To this day she is an AWFUL AWFUL interviewer. Last night had to be her 1000th interview right? It was like she's never done PR a day in her life. |
Yep that's pretty much what it was. She only had that triple axel for like a year until bad habits took over and made it go away. The sad thing is that it wasn't necessary to win, at all. |
Hollywood definitely revealed themselves in that interview. Robbie and Janney only cared about making a great movie coming from a different angle- "the poor Tanya angle" even if it was based on lies and manipulation. Tonya is as big of a manipulator as they come. The clip where her husband all those years ago "said Tonya wears the pants in their relationship " is telling. I think it is more likely she was the abuser in the relationship and planned the entire thing. She is a pathological liar. |
+1 Not picking sides, but this is spot on. I don't believe she was "innocent", by any means, but sometimes an abusive relationship goes both ways, because that is all they know. |
| Did anyone read the totally bonkers nytimes interview with Tonya? I was thinking”wtf is this?” The entire time I was reading it. |
Recent? Link? Sometimes there is PR that is too much , and sometimes there is PR that is not enough. I don't think she heeds many of her PR people. |
+1 She has always struck me as the dominant personality in these relationships. I've heard her referred to as a sociopath...I think that's sort of harsh but if the skate fits... |