Nancy Kerrigan

American figure skater who won Olympic silver just weeks after being attacked by an assailant hired by rival Tonya Harding's ex-husband, in one of sport's most notorious scandals.

Nancy Ann Kerrigan was born on 13 October 1969 in Stoneham, Massachusetts, the youngest of three children and only daughter of a welder father and legally blind mother. She won bronze at the 1991 World Championships and the 1992 Albertville Olympics, and silver at the 1992 World Championships, establishing herself among the world's elite skaters. On 6 January 1994, at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Detroit, Kerrigan was struck on the knee with a police baton by an assailant hired by Jeff Gillooly, the ex-husband of her rival Tonya Harding, in an attack intended to prevent her from competing. The incident, broadcast worldwide as she cried 'Why, why, why?', became one of the most notorious scandals in sports history, and though her injury forced her out of the U.S. Championships, she was named to the Olympic team on medical exception. Seven weeks after the attack, Kerrigan skated what she considered the two best performances of her career at the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics, winning silver behind Oksana Baiul by a narrow, controversial margin, while Harding finished eighth amid the unfolding scandal. Kerrigan turned professional after the Olympics, was inducted into the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 2004, and has since worked as a broadcaster and author while running the Nancy Kerrigan Foundation, which supports people affected by visual impairment in honor of her mother.

Elegant, technically polished skater known for graceful spirals and classical presentation

Remembered for her composure and resilience skating some of her finest performances in the immediate aftermath of a shocking personal attack

• 1994 Olympic Silver Medal
• 1992 Olympic Bronze Medal
• 1993 U.S. National Champion
• U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame (2004)