With the upcoming Winter Olympics, there is (naturally) heightened interest in the sports involved. In that mold, one of the stories that has been revisited a few times is the infamous Tonya Harding drama. ABC will air the special on Thursday night, and here’s where you can find it online.
For those of you who don’t know what all the Tonya Harding drama is, take a read. During the run-up to the 1994 Winter Olympics and the US National Championships, Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan were two of the brightest lights on the figure skating scene. Both of them had gone to the 1992 Olympics, and were widely regarded as the top two US skaters headed to the Olympics. However, at the US Championship competition in 1994, Kerrigan was attacked and injured, causing her to withdraw from the competition and thus Olympic consideration. It was discovered that Harding’s husband and bodyguard were responsible for the attack. Later that year, Harding was stripped of her title from that year and banned from future skating events, both as a competitor and a coach.
Since that time, Harding has steadfastly maintained that she had no prior knowledge of the attack. How legitimate those claims are is unproven. However, it should not be too surprising that the incident (and the follow-up) immediately put a spotlight on Harding and (to a lesser extent) figure skating in general.
This year, possibly partially because of the upcoming Olympics, the story has been brought back to prominence. First in I, Tonya, a film released in early December 2017. This television special, Truth and Lies, the Tonya Harding Story, features an in-depth interview with the skater herself on a range of topics, including the 1994 incident. What remains unclear is exactly what new information or perspective (if any) it will include. Harding’s story has already been parsed out on TV in a 30 for 30 documentary on ESPN (2014), and it has been revisited ad nauseam by print and online media outlets.
Next: For all your streaming needs
WHAT: Truth and Lies: The Tonya Harding Story
WHEN: Thursday Jan. 11, 9:00 p.m. ET (2-hour special)
WHERE (TV): ABC
WHERE (Streaming): Stream 1
Be sure to catch this special to see if it adds any new insight to a story that becomes relevant again every four years.