Costume Tonya Harding Wore Throughout 1994 Skating Scandal Up for Public sale

A chunk of determine skating historical past is up for public sale.

The purple sequined costume that Tonya Harding wore to the 1994 U.S. Determine Skating Championships the place rival Nancy Kerrigan was attacked by a thug employed by Harding’s then-husband Jeff Gillooly will probably be bought to the very best bidder.

The public sale web site Lelands has the costume listed as “Historic Tonya Harding Costume from Notorious 1994 US Championships – The Day After Nancy Kerrigan ‘Assault.’ ”

An outline for the costume from the itemizing reads: “Introduced right here is the outfit worn by Harding in the course of the technical packages within the 1994 United States Championships on January seventh, at some point after the Kerrigan assault, and 1994 Olympics on February twenty third. The purple sequin costume lacks a measurement or producer tag, and is lacking a small handful of beads across the neck.”

Harding wore the showgirl-style costume for 2 seasons, starting the yr earlier than the Olympics. In the course of the technical program on the 1993 U.S. Determine Skating Championships held in Phoenix, Harding’s purple costume grew to become unhooked shortly after the beginning of her music.

The wardrobe malfunction brought about Harding to fully miss her deliberate triple Lutz bounce, popping it right into a single Lutz. Realizing her costume was undone, Harding requested for a restart, which was granted by the referee. The mishap garnered delicate laughter from followers and an expression of disbelief from the decide, seen within the video under.

Along with her costume secured, Harding skated her routine cleanly, inserting second to Kerrigan within the technical program. She fell sick earlier than the free skate and carried out poorly, dropping to fourth and left off the crew for the World Championships.

Quick ahead one yr to the 1994 U.S. Determine Skating Championships in Detroit, which might function the qualifying occasion for the Olympics in Lillehammer. On Jan. 6, Kerrigan was leaving a observe session when she was clubbed within the leg with a baton by an assailant.

The damage compelled Kerrigan to withdraw from the competitors. Harding wore the purple costume for a brand new technical program to the A lot Ado About Nothing soundtrack, which she skated on Jan. 7, at some point after Kerrigan’s assault. Along with her major rival out of fee, Harding took the U.S. title (and a berth on the Olympic crew).

After the following FBI investigation, a disciplinary panel discovered Harding responsible of creating “false statements about her information” of the Kerrigan assault, which was orchestrated by Gillooly and his co-conspirator Shawn Eckhardt. Nonetheless, Harding was nonetheless capable of compete on the Olympics.

Harding and a rehabilitated Kerrigan each went to Lillehammer six weeks after the assault. Photographers attended each observe session (because the two had been sharing the identical ice) hoping to catch an interplay between the 2.

The women skating occasion grew to become a media spectacle and introduced in big rankings for CBS, with the technical program changing into the third-most watched sporting occasion in historical past on the time.

Harding would put on the purple costume yet another time however faltered, ending tenth after the technical program whereas Kerrigan completed first. After the free skate the place the medals had been determined, Kerrigan skated away with the silver and Harding completed eighth (after struggling yet one more tools situation — this time together with her skating boot).

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The Olympics marked the final time Harding would ever put on the purple costume in competitors; she was banned from eligible competitors for all times for her connection to the Kerrigan assault.

This yr marks the thirtieth anniversary of the assault, which Harding has put behind her.

“My household and I are doing good,” she instructed PEOPLE in January 2024. “For the previous yr, I’ve been working as a custodian for 2 companies which are a part of one company.”

She briefly loved a return to the highlight in 2017 when the biopic I, Tonya was launched. Within the autobiographical movie, Margot Robbie portrayed Harding.

Now, the purple costume on the heart of the most important scandal in skating historical past is up on the market. The present highest bid for the costume is $3,993.00, with the public sale closing on Saturday, June 29. That is far under the $50,000 Lelands hoped to fetch.