|residence= Portland, Oregon, United States
|height= 154.9 cm
|weight=
|partner=
|coach= Diane Rawlinson
|skating club=
|turned pro=
|combined total=
|combined date=
|SP score=
|SP date=
|FS score=
|FS date=
}}
thumb|200px|right|Tonya Harding performs a axel jump|triple axel jump at the 1991 U.S. Figure Skating Championships.
thumb|right|200px|Tonya Harding competing at 1986 Skate America.
'''Tonya Maxine Harding''' (born November 12, 1970) is a former figure skater from Portland, Oregon. Despite a tough childhood in an unstable family, as well as being plagued by asthma (aggravated by smoking), she became an elite figure skater. She won the U.S. Figure Skating Championships twice and placed second in the 1991 World Championships. She was the second woman, and the first American woman, to complete a triple axel jump in competition.
She became notorious for her part in the conspiracy to harm competitor Nancy Kerrigan at a practice session during the 1994 U.S. Figure Skating Championships.
Early life
Harding is the daughter of LaVona and Al Harding. She had a half-brother named Chris Davison (deceased). Harding began skating at an early age. She landed her first triple lutz at age 12. Her mother made many of her skating costumes.
[http://youtube.com/watch?v=OOYAlFa9aV4&search=Tonya%20Harding Announcer's comments during Tonya Harding's 1991 Worlds short program, accessed July 16, 2006.] She dropped out of high school during her sophomore year, and later earned a GED. She married Jeff Gillooly in 1990, when she was 19.
[http://www.tonyaharding.com/biography.htm Tonya Harding biography at tonyaharding.com, accessed July 16, 2006.]Skating career
Harding began to work her way up the competitive skating ladder in the mid-1980's. She placed 6th at the 1986 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, 5th in 1987 and 1988, and 3rd in 1989. At the 1990 event, suffering from the flu, she could only place 7th. Harding was a powerful jumper and spinner, but had a reputation of being an inconsistent competitor and unpolished in terms of style. She was also held back by mediocre compulsory figures before they were eliminated from competition in 1990.
1991 was Harding's breakthrough year. She landed her first triple axel in competition at the U.S. Championships, winning the title with the first 6.0 ever given to a female singles skater for technical merit at that event. She competed well at the World Championships, placing second. She again completed the triple axel during her long program. (In her career, Harding landed four triple axels in competition, and all of them in 1991: one at the U.S. Championships, one at the World Championships, and two at the fall Skate America competition.)
In 1992, Harding placed 3rd at the U.S. Championships after twisting her ankle
