Tonya Maxene Price famed as Tonya Harding is a former figure skater, retired boxer, and reality television personality from the USA. She is also two-time Olympian and two-time Skate America Champion and she is also the first American women to complete a triple axel jump in competition. She began skating lessons when she was only four. She was also a contestant on season 26 of Dancing with the Stars, finishing in third place in the year 2018.
Tonya Harding’s Early Life And Family
Tonya Harding was born on 12th November 1970 in Portland, Oregon, the USA. As of 2018, she celebrated her 48th birthday with her friends and families. Her birth name is Tonya Maxene Price. She is of American nationality and her ethnicity is White. She was born to her parents, LaVona Golden (b. 1940) and Albert Harding (1933-2009). Her parents divorced after 19 years of marriage in 1987 when she was 16 years old. She raised in East Portland. She started her skating at age three, training with coach Diane Rawlinson. He held various odd jobs including managing apartments, driving a truck, and working at a bait-and-tackle store but she was often underemployed due to poor health. struggled to support the family while working as a waitress, and hand-sewed her daughter’s skating costumes as they could not afford to purchase them. She stated that by the time she was seven years old, physical and psychological abuse had both become a regular part of her life. Talking about her education, she dropped out of Milwaukie High School during her sophomore year in order to focus on skating, and earned a General Educational Development (GED) Certificate in 1988. There is no information regarding her siblings. Her religion is Christian and her birth sign is Scorpio.
Tonya Harding’s Body Statistics
Tonya Harding is a very beautiful woman with glowing face and attractive personality attracting a lot of people towards her. she has got a pair of blue eyes with long sexy legs. She stands five feet one inch tall with an average body weight of 50 Kg. Her skin tone is white and she has blonde hair. More details, regarding her body measurements and other body details such as bra size, shoe size and more will be added once we get details about it.
Skating Career of Tonya Harding
- With coach Diane Rawlinson, Tonya trained as a figure skater at her youth age.
- She placed sixth at the 1986 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, fifth in 1987 and 1988, and third in 1989.
- After that, she began training with Dody Teachman as her coach.
- She won the October 1989 Skate America competition and also she was considered a strong contender at the February 1990 U.S. Figure Skating Championships.
- Her breakthrough year came in 1991 when, at the U.S. Championships, she completed her first triple Axel in competition on February 16 becoming the first American woman to execute the jump where she landed seven triple jumps in the long program including the triple Axel.
- Moreover, she also won the 1991 U.S. Ladies’ Singles title with the event’s first 6.0 technical merit score.
- She placed sixth in the 1992 World Championships.
- She skated poorly in the U.S. Championships and failed to qualify for the World Championship team in her 1993 season.
- She won the U.S. Championships in January 1994 but was later stripped of her title.
- The USFSA disciplinary panel voted to vacate the title in June 1994, following an investigation of the attack on Nancy Kerrigan.
- She later compete at the professional level, placing second at the ESPN Pro Skating Championship in 1999.
Attack on Nancy Kerrigan and aftermath
- Nancy Kerrigan was attacked in a corridor after a practice session at the Detroit Cobo Arena one day before the U.S. Figure Skating Championship first Ladies’ Singles competition. It was on 6th January 1994.
- The immediate aftermath of the attack was recorded on a news camera and broadcast around the world.
- Stant and his uncle, Derrick Smith, were hired for this assault by Harding’s ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly, and her one-time bodyguard, Shawn Eckardt.
- Nancy Kerrigan was walking behind a curtain when Stant rushed behind her.
- Using both hands, he then swung a 21 in (53 cm) ASP telescopic baton at her right leg, striking her above the knee.
- Tonya confirmed she had spoken with FBI agents while in Detroit and again in Portland.
- On 13th January, Eckardt and Smith were arrested.
- On January 16, her lawyer read a news conference statement denying Harding’s involvement in the attack on Kerrigan.
- Nancy Kerrigan and Harding shared the ice at a practice session in the Hamar Olympic Amphitheatre on 17th February 1994.
- She pleaded guilty to conspiracy to hinder prosecution as a Class C felony offense at a Multnomah County court hearing on 16th March 1994.
- Her penalties included 3 years of probation, $100,000 fine, and 500 hours community service. She agreed to reimburse Multnomah County $10,000 in legal expenses, undergo a psychiatric examination, and volunteered to give $50,000 to the Special Olympics Oregon (SOOR) charity.
- A Portland grand jury issued an indictment stating there was evidence Harding participated in the attack plot on 21st March 1994.
- She stated that she wanted to call the FBI in 1994 to reveal what she knew, but decided not to when Gillooly allegedly threatened her with death following a gunpoint gang rape by him and two other men she did not know in Harding’s 2008 biography, The Tonya Tapes.
Celebrity Career of Tonya Harding
- An explicit 1991 videotape clip of Harding topless was shown on A Current Affair on 15th February 1994.
- The New York Post reported that Jeff Gillooly had supplied the videotaped fragment for an undisclosed sum of money.
- Penthouse magazine announced that its September issue would feature different stills of Harding and Gillooly having sex from the same extended videotape on 26th July 1995.
- She appeared on an AAA professional wrestling show as the manager for wrestling stable Los Gringos Locos on 22nd June 1994.
- She was cast in a low-budget action film, Breakaway in the year 1994 and it was released in the year 1996.
- She received media attention after using mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to help revive an 81-year-old woman, Alice Olson, who collapsed at a bar in Portland while playing video poker on 29th October 1996.
- She appeared on television, on the game show The Weakest Link: “15 Minutes of Fame Edition” in 2002.
- She became a commentator for TruTV’s The Smoking Gun Presents: World’s Dumbest…. in the year 2008.
- She was seen in a television commercial in the United States promoting Direct Auto Insurance in August 2019.
Boxing Career of Tonya Harding
- Tonya boxed against Paula Jones on the Fox TV network Celebrity Boxing event, winning the fight in the year 2002.
- She made her official women’s professional boxing debut, losing a four-round split decision against Samantha Browning on 22nd February 2003.
- Her boxing career came about amid rumors that she was having financial difficulties and needed to fight in the ring to earn money.
- It was reported that she canceled a planned boxing match against Tracy Carlton in Oakland, California, because of an alleged death threat against her on 23rd March 2004.
- She was beaten in a match in Edmonton, Alberta, by Amy Johnson on 24th June 2004.
- Her boxing career was cut short by a physical condition she attributed to asthma.
- Her overall record was 3 wins and 3 losses.
Racing Career of Tonya Harding
- Tonya set a new land speed record for a vintage gas coupe with a speed of 97.177 mph (156.391 km/h; 43.442 m/s) driving a 1931 Ford Model A, named Lickity-Split, on the Bonneville Salt Flats on 12th August 2009.
Dancing With The Stars
- Tonya was announced as one of the celebrities who would compete on season 26 of Dancing with the Stars in April 2018 where she was partnered with professional dancer Sasha Farber.
- The couple reached the finals of the competition, where Harding finished in third place overall, behind Adam Rippon and Josh Norman.
Worst Cooks in America
- Tonya was announced as one of the celebrities in August 2018 who would compete in the fifth celebrity edition of Food Network’s Worst Cooks in America, set to broadcast in April 2019.
- She won the competition and the US$25,000 prize went to her chosen charity of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Tonya Harding’s Personal Life And Husband
Tonya Harding is a married woman. Firstly, she was married to Jeff Gillooly on 18th March 1990, when she was 19 and he was 22. On 28th August 1993, after three years, she divorced him. After divorcing, she married Michael Smith and they split after a year. In the year 2010, she again re-married Joseph Price. The couple met each other at a restaurant. They are also the proud parents of a son who was born on 19th February 2011. As of today, the couple is living a happy life without any disturbances. The couple is enjoying their life a lot. The duo is often spotted in the public places holding hands. Her husband is very loyal to her and they both respect each other.
Tonya Harding’s Net Worth And Salary
The net worth of this multi-talented woman who is former figure skater retired boxer, and reality television personality is estimated to have $100,000 as of 2019. But her present salary is unknown as it has not been revealed by any sources yet. On average, a figure skater earns around $20,000 as their annual salary while the median wage for athletes and sports competitors at $51,370 in 2017. There is no doubt in the mind of her followers that she is earning a considerable amount of salary from her present work. She is independent, famous as well as financially secure. With her hard work and strong presentation, she has definitely won the heart of all the audiences and her colleagues. She is the leading example of a working independent and successful woman. She has become an inspiration to the youth of today. She is satisfied with her earnings.
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