Tonya Harding
Tonya Harding is one of the most popular athletes in the country. A gifted figure skater, Harding was at the peak of her career from the mid-eighties to the mid-nineties. Her last competition, before she was banned from the sport, was in 1994, when she competed in the 1994 Winter Olympics. Her life and her career have been the subject of numerous films and books, including the 2017 Hollywood film I, Tonya, starring Margot Robbie.
In 1994, fellow figure skater Nancy Kerrigan was attacked at the Cobo Arena, and it was later revealed that the assailant was hired by Harding’s ex-husband, to prevent her from competing in the upcoming Nationals and Winter Olympics. While Harding had eventually admitted her ex-husband was involved in the attack, she claimed she had not known about his plans prior to the attack.