Editing Tonya Harding (section)

== Skating career ==
Harding trained as a figure skater throughout her youth with coach Diane Rawlinson. In the mid-1980s, Harding began working her way up the competitive skating ladder. She placed sixth at the 1986 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, fifth in 1987 and 1988, and third in 1989. After competing in the February [[1989 U.S. Figure Skating Championships|1989 Nationals Championship]], Harding began training with Dody Teachman.<ref name="Hersh">{{cite news |first=Phil|last=Hersh |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1992/03/04/skater-changes-coaches-again/|title=Skater Changes Coaches, Again |work=Chicago Tribune|date=March 4, 1992|access-date=August 5, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180805233735/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1992-03-04/sports/9201200938_1_diane-rawlinson-dody-teachman-tonya-harding|archive-date=August 5, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> She then won the October [[1989 Skate America]] competition, and was considered a strong contender at the February [[1990 U.S. Figure Skating Championships]]. However, she was experiencing the [[influenza|flu]] and [[asthma]], and had a poor [[Free skating|free skate]]. After the original program, she dropped from second place and finished seventh.{{sfn|Prouse|Harding|2008|pages=96–98}}
Harding's breakthrough year came in 1991 when, at the [[1991 United States Figure Skating Championships|U.S. Championships]], she completed her first [[triple Axel]] in competition on February 16—becoming the first American woman to do so.<ref name=nyt910312>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/12/sports/figure-skating-a-triple-axel-with-rippling-effects.html |title=A Triple Axel With Rippling Effects |first=Michael |last=Janofsky |work=The New York Times |date=March 12, 1991 |access-date=December 22, 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20171226224921/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/12/sports/figure-skating-a-triple-axel-with-rippling-effects.html |archive-date=December 26, 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref> She landed seven triple jumps in the long program, including the Axel.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Lubarsky|first=Jared |date=March 10, 1991|title=Power Skating|work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/10/magazine/power-skating.html |access-date=June 16, 2019|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190616191555/https://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/10/magazine/power-skating.html |archive-date=June 16, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>  She won the 1991 U.S. Ladies' Singles title with the event's first 6.0 technical merit score since [[Janet Lynn]]'s 1973 performance at the U.S. Championships.<ref name="nytimes.com">{{cite news |title=Harding Takes Singles Title|first=Micheal|last=Janofsky |work=[[The New York Times]]|date=February 17, 1991 |access-date=August 5, 2018 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/02/17/sports/figure-skating-harding-takes-singles-title.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180805234206/https://www.nytimes.com/1991/02/17/sports/figure-skating-harding-takes-singles-title.html|archive-date=August 5, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> She won the long program when seven of the nine judges gave her first place.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|last=Brennan|first=Christine|date=February 17, 1991 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1991/02/17/hardings-7-triples-nail-us-title-put-skating-world-in-whirl/3e847b63-6d16-4c13-b197-9fed67677fdf/?noredirect=on|title=Harding's Seven Triples Nail U.S. Title, Put Skating World in a Whirl|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=June 16, 2019}}</ref> She scored eight 5.9s and one 6.0 for technical merit, and six 5.9s, one 5.8, and two 5.7s for composition and style.<ref name=":0" /> At the March 1991 World Championships, she again completed the triple Axel. Harding would finish second behind [[Kristi Yamaguchi]] and in front of Nancy Kerrigan, marking the first time one country swept the ladies' medal podium at the [[World Figure Skating Championships]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/17/sports/figure-skating-skating-sweep-for-the-us-women.html|title=Skating Sweep for the U.S. Women |first=Michael |last=Janofsky|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=March 17, 1991|access-date=July 18, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180719054834/https://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/17/sports/figure-skating-skating-sweep-for-the-us-women.html |archive-date=July 19, 2018}}</ref>

At the September [[1991 Skate America]] competition, Harding recorded three more firsts:
* The first ever woman to complete a triple Axel in the short program.
* The first woman ever to successfully execute two triple Axels in a single competition.
* The first ever to complete a triple Axel in combination (with the double [[toe loop]]).

Despite these record-breaking performances, after 1991, Harding was never again able to successfully complete the triple Axel in competition; her competitive results subsequently began to decline. She and Dody Teachman had briefly parted ways in April 1991, but then reunited in June;<ref name="Not Your Average Ice Queen">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.si.com/vault/1992/01/13/125774/not-your-average-ice-queen-a-troubled-past-hasnt-stopped-tonya-harding-from-becoming-a-figure-skating-champion|title=Not Your Average Ice Queen|magazine=[[Sports Illustrated]]|date=January 13, 1992|access-date=July 31, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180713135832/https://www.si.com/vault/1992/01/13/125774/not-your-average-ice-queen-a-troubled-past-hasnt-stopped-tonya-harding-from-becoming-a-figure-skating-champion|archive-date=July 13, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> Harding was still training under Teachman for the upcoming 1992 season.<ref>{{cite news|last=Harvey|first=R|title=On Thin Ice: Figure Skating Has Taken a Back Seat for Harding Since National Title|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-01-05-sp-2585-story.html|access-date=July 13, 2018|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=January 5, 1992}}</ref> She placed third in the January [[1992 U.S. Figure Skating Championships]] despite twisting her ankle during practice, and finished fourth in the February [[1992 Winter Olympics]]. On March 1, 1992, Harding gave Teachman a summary dismissal, and returned to Diane Rawlinson to be coached by her.<ref name="Hersh"/><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1992/03/08/adulation-on-hold-for-tonya-harding/|title=Adulation On Hold For Tonya Harding|first=Phil|last=Hersh|work=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=March 8, 1992|access-date=July 13, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180713133344/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1992-03-08/sports/9201220344_1_diane-rawlinson-dody-teachman-tonya-harding|archive-date=July 13, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> On March 29, Harding placed sixth in the [[1992 World Figure Skating Championships|1992 World Championships]], although she had a better placement at the November [[1992 Skate Canada International]] event, in which she finished fourth.<ref>Haight, Vader (1994), p.35</ref> In the 1993 season, she skated poorly in the U.S. Championships and failed to qualify for the World Championship team.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1993-11-07-9311070172-story.html+&cd=6&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ca|title=Threat Adds to Harding's List of Woes|first=Phil|last=Hersh|newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]] |date=November 7, 1993|access-date=September 27, 2021}}</ref>

In January 1994, Harding won the U.S. Championships, but was later stripped of her title: the [[United States Figure Skating Association|USFSA]] disciplinary panel voted to vacate the title in June 1994, following an investigation of the attack on Nancy Kerrigan. In February 1994, Harding was permitted to remain a member of the U.S. Olympic ice skating team, despite brief legal controversy.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/02/05/sports/olympics-ioc-official-says-harding-should-skate.html|title=I.O.C. Official Says Harding Should Skate|first=Jere|last=Longman|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=February 5, 1994|access-date=July 16, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180717043318/https://www.nytimes.com/1994/02/05/sports/olympics-ioc-official-says-harding-should-skate.html|archive-date=July 17, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1994/02/13/settlement-means-harding-will-skate/|title=Settlement Means Harding Will Skate|first=Phil|last=Hersh|work=[[Chicago Tribune]] |date=February 13, 1994|access-date=July 16, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180717071112/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1994-02-13/news/9402130126_1_games-administrative-board-olympic-movement-and-sportsmanship-usoc-decision|archive-date=July 17, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> At the [[Figure skating at the 1994 Winter Olympics|1994 Winter Olympics]] in [[Lillehammer]], after an issue with a broken skate lace in the long program, she was given a re-skate by the judges and finished in eighth place, behind [[Oksana Baiul]] (gold) and Nancy Kerrigan (silver).<ref name="8th">{{cite news|url=http://www.oregonlive.com/tonya-harding/1994/02/1994_winter_olympics_tonya_har.html|title=Tonya Harding finishes 8th|work=[[The Oregonian]]|access-date=May 1, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180428133751/http://www.oregonlive.com/tonya-harding/1994/02/1994_winter_olympics_tonya_har.html|archive-date=April 28, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> Despite her USFSA ban, however, she did later compete at the professional level, placing second at the ESPN Pro Skating Championship in 1999.<ref name="muldoon"/>

=== Competitive highlights ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="10" style="background:#ffdead; text-align:center;" | International
|-
! Event<ref name="skatecanada">{{cite web |url=http://skatecanada.ca/en/events_results/results/archives/SkateCanadaResultsBook-Volume2-1974-current.pdf |title=Skate Canada Results Book Volume 2: 1974–current |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090920093849/http://skatecanada.ca/en/events_results/results/archives/SkateCanadaResultsBook-Volume2-1974-current.pdf |archive-date=September 20, 2009 |publisher=Skate Canada |access-date=January 4, 2018}}</ref>
! 1985–86
! 1986–87
! 1987–88
! 1988–89
! 1989–90
! 1990–91
! 1991–92
! 1992–93
! 1993–94
|-
| align=left | [[Winter Olympic Games|Winter Olympics]] || || || || || || ||4th ||  || 8th
|-
| align=left | [[World Figure Skating Championships|World Championships]] || || || || || || style="background:silver;"| 2nd ||6th ||  ||WD
|-
| align=left | [[Skate America]] || || style="background:silver;"| 2nd || || || style="background:gold;"| 1st|| || style="background:gold;"| 1st || || style="background:#c96;"| 3rd
|-
| align=left | [[Skate Canada International]] || || || || || || || || 4th ||
|-
| align=left | [[Bofrost Cup on Ice|Nations Cup]] || || || || || style="background:gold;"| 1st || || || ||
|-
| align=left | [[NHK Trophy]] || || || style="background:#c96;"| 3rd|| || || style="background:silver;"| 2nd || || || 4th
|-
| align=left | [[Prize of Moscow News]]<ref name=Pirouette>{{cite magazine |title=Prize of Moscow News |magazine= Pirouette – Abonnement magazine enfants de 5 à 8 ans |year=1988 | publisher=Fleurus Presse |language=fr }}</ref> || || || || style="background:gold;"| 1st || || || || ||
|-
! colspan="10" style="background:#ffdead; text-align:center;" | National
|-
| align=left | [[United States Figure Skating Championships|U.S. Championships]]<ref>{{cite book |last1=Haight |first1=Abby |last2=Vader |first2=J.E. |year=1994 |pages=9, 63 |title=Fire on Ice |publisher=Crown |isbn=9780525575313 |quote=When Harding was fifteen years old she had a tumultuous year. She went to the national championships for the first time and finished a strong sixth – Competing in her second national championship in 1987, Harding finished fifth in Tacoma, Washington}}</ref><ref name="competitive highlights">{{cite book|last1=Coffey |first1=Frank |last2=Layden |first2=Joe |chapter=Appendix B |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PV9EDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT49|chapter-url-access=subscription|title=Thin Ice: The Complete, Uncensored Story of Tonya Harding |year=1994|pages=48; 112 |publisher=Pinnacle Books |isbn=9780786044979|access-date=July 27, 2018|quote=As a skater, Harding showed scant improvement...finishing fifth in the senior nationals in both 1987 and 1988, an Olympic year. For the first time in her career, there was some doubt as to whether she would ever fulfill her immense promise – Tonya Harding's Competitive Highlights: 1985 Olympic Festival – 5th; 1988 National Senior – 5th}}</ref> ||6th || 5th || 5th || style="background:#c96;"| 3rd || 7th || style="background:gold;"| 1st || style="background:#c96;"| 3rd || style=background:#d1c571;"|4th ||| <s>1st</s>{{efn|In June 1994, Claire Ferguson, the President of the USFSA, voted to strip Harding of her 1994 title. However, the competition results were not changed and the title was left vacant rather than moving all the other competitors up one position.<ref name="1994-title"/>}}
|-
| align=left | U.S. Olympic Festival<ref name="competitive highlights"/> || 5th ||style="background:#c96;" | 3rd || || || || 1st style="background:silver;"| 2nd || || ||
|-
|}
{{notelist}}