Nancy Kerrigan - January 1994 Attack

January 1994 Attack

Kerrigan gained considerable fame beyond the skating world when, on January 6, 1994, she was clubbed in the right knee with a police baton by Shane Stant at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships at Cobo Arena in Detroit, an assault planned by rival Tonya Harding's ex-husband Jeff Gillooly and friend Shawn Eckardt.

Kerrigan was captured on camera after the attack grabbing her knee and wailing "Why, why, why?" Although Kerrigan's injury forced her to withdraw from the U.S. Championships, her rivals agreed that she merited one of the two spots on the Olympic team. The USFSA chose to name her to the Olympic team rather than second-place finisher Michelle Kwan.

Kerrigan recovered quickly from her knee injury and resumed her intensive training. She practiced by doing complete back-to-back double runthroughs of her programs, until she felt completely confident in her ability to compete under pressure. The fame she had acquired from the attack led to further professional opportunities; it was reported that she had already signed contracts for $9.5 million before the Olympic competition began.