On January 6, 1994, an assailant used a police baton to strike Kerrigan on her landing knee; the attacker was hired by Jeff Gillooly, then-husband of her rival Tonya Harding.

Her father sometimes worked three jobs to fund her skating career; he also drove the Zamboni at the local rink in exchange for Nancy's lessons.

[6] Kerrigan was coached by Theresa Martin until she was 16, then began working with Evy and Mary Scotvold[7] after a brief period with Denise Morrissey.

[8] She made her senior debut the following season, moving up the national rankings each year: 12th in 1988, fifth in 1989 when she won the bronze medal at the 1989 Winter Universiade, and fourth in 1990.

Her medal was part of the first-ever sweep of the women's podium by a single country at the World Championships, as her teammates Kristi Yamaguchi and Tonya Harding won gold and silver, respectively.

[13] She won the short program at the World Championships in Prague, but had a disastrous free skate that resulted in her tumbling to fifth in the standings.

[14] It was followed by an even worse performance at a televised pro-am event, where she fell three times, botched the landing of another jump, and appeared dazed and depressed, losing to 1988 Olympian Caryn Kadavy.

[15] Before and after the 1992 Olympics, she had many corporate sponsorship contracts (with companies such as Campbell's Soup, Evian, Reebok, and Seiko)[16] and opportunities to perform professionally, which were permitted after the International Skating Union abolished the earlier strict amateur status rules that had governed eligibility for the sport.

Figure Skating Championships in Detroit, as Kerrigan was walking through a corridor at Cobo Arena immediately after a practice session, she was bludgeoned on the right lower thigh with a police baton by an assailant, who was later apprehended and identified as Shane Stant.

The assault was planned by rival Tonya Harding's ex-husband Jeff Gillooly[20] and conspirator Shawn Eckardt (1967–2007).

Although Kerrigan's injury forced her to withdraw from the U.S. Championships, her fellow skaters agreed that she merited one of the two spots on the Olympic team.

[19][27] The fame caused by huge media coverage of the attack led to further opportunities; she was reported to have already signed endorsement contracts for $9.5 million before the Olympics began.

[29] In late 2005, Kerrigan expressed objections to Shane Stant's wishes to have the attack removed from his record so he could join the Navy SEALs, which do not recruit anyone with a felony conviction.

Kerrigan stated in a letter dated November 25, 2005, that "to allow Stant to have the attack removed from his record would not only be an insult to [her], but it [also] would send the message that a crime like that can ultimately be swept under the rug."

Kerrigan was in first place after the short program, but lost the free skate and the gold medal to Baiul in a close and controversial 5–4 decision.

"[33] CBS chose to air the undiplomatic comment, marking a distinct shift in the way Kerrigan was portrayed in the media, which had been somewhat protective of her image up to that point because of the attack against her.

Her agent claimed this was because Norwegian security had advised her to leave due to death threats that had been made against her, but this was later denied.

[34] Instead, she left Norway early to take part in a prearranged publicity parade at Walt Disney World, her $2-million sponsor.

"[38] Either because of the bad publicity or her own inclinations, some of Kerrigan's previously announced endorsements and television deals were dropped after the Olympics.

[51] Kerrigan's white 1992 free-skating costume resembled a wedding dress with sheer illusion sleeves and a basketweave design on the bodice.

[59] In 1994, Kerrigan hosted Saturday Night Live, season 19 episode 15, featuring musical guest Aretha Franklin.

[60][61] In 1995, Kerrigan had a guest appearance on Boy Meets World in the episode "Wrong Side of the Track" where she helps Eric Matthews discover his potential for skating in a dream sequence.

[63] Kerrigan appeared in the Fox television program Skating with Celebrities (2006) and played a small part in the ice-skating comedy feature film Blades of Glory (2007) with Will Ferrell.

[67][68] On July 10, 2016, Kerrigan competed against Kayla Harrison on the "Battle of the Olympians" episode of the television program, Flea Market Flip (S7 E2).

The commercial featured her promoting "CRM Cereal" and dancing with the fictional brand's giant panda mascot.

[75] Kerrigan graduated from Stoneham High School and attended Emmanuel College in Boston to study business.