Tonya Maxene Price (née Harding; born November 12, 1970) is an American former figure skater and boxer, and reality television personality.

In January 1994, Harding became embroiled in controversy when her ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly, orchestrated an attack on her fellow U.S. skating rival Nancy Kerrigan.

As a result of her involvement in the aftermath of the assault, the United States Figure Skating Association banned her for life on June 30, 1994; she was stripped of her 1994 title.

[2] During Harding's youth, her father held various odd jobs (managed apartments, drove a truck, and worked at a bait & tackle store), yet was often underemployed due to poor health.

[5] She dropped out of Milwaukie High School during her sophomore year to focus on skating; she earned a General Educational Development (GED) Certificate in 1988.

Harding would finish second behind Kristi Yamaguchi and in front of Nancy Kerrigan, marking the first time one country swept the ladies' medal podium at the World Figure Skating Championships.

[13][22] On March 29, Harding placed sixth in the 1992 World Championships, although she had a better placement at the November 1992 Skate Canada International event, in which she finished fourth.

[25][26] At the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, after an issue with a broken skate lace in the long program, she was given a re-skate by the judges and finished in eighth place, behind Oksana Baiul (gold) and Nancy Kerrigan (silver).

Figure Skating Championship first Ladies' Singles competition, Nancy Kerrigan was attacked in a corridor after a practice session at the Detroit Cobo Arena.

[42][43] On January 14, the United States Figure Skating Association (USFSA) made a statement on whether Eckardt's arrest affected Harding's Olympic placement: "We will deal only with the facts.

Vader, reporters for The Oregonian, wrote a biography of Harding called Fire on Ice, which included excerpts of her January 18 FBI interview.

[77] Her admitted failure to report about an assault on a fellow competitor, supported by her FBI transcripts, led to Harding being formally charged with "[making] false statements about her knowledge."

If she had been suspended, she likely still would have competed at the Olympics after filing suit, seeking an injunction against the USFSA, and asserting her rights under the Amateur Sports Act of 1978.

[78] The panel examined evidence, including: the testimonies of Stant and Smith, Harding's and Gillooly's telephone records, and notes found in a Portland saloon trash bin on January 30.

[80] News media began attending Harding's Portland practices, and also filmed her on February 7, running barefoot to stop a tow truck from hauling her illegally parked vehicle.

[90][91] On February 25, Harding finished eighth in the Olympics; a bootlace broke early in her free skate routine, and amid jeers from the crowd, she was allowed to restart.

[95] On March 16, 1994, Harding pled guilty to conspiracy to hinder prosecution as a Class C felony offense at a Multnomah County court hearing.

[96] Judge Donald Londer conducted routine questioning to make certain Harding understood her agreement, that she was entering her plea "knowingly and voluntarily."

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.

[104] District attorney Norman Frink said if Harding had not agreed to the plea, she would have faced "an indictment on all possible charges...punishment was taking away [skating] privilege.

The indictment concluded more than two months of investigation and witness testimonies from Diane Rawlinson; Harding's choreographer Erika Bakacs; freelance figure skating writer Vera Marano; and Eckardt's college instructor and classmates.

He reported that Harding still held to her statement from her press conference given on January 27, 1994: "I had no prior knowledge of the planned assault on Nancy Kerrigan."

"[122][123][114][124] The Fox special report was called Breaking the Ice: The Women of '94 Revisited, hosted by James Brown, and featured interviews of Harding, Gillooly, and Kerrigan.

[127] In Harding's 2008 biography, The Tonya Tapes (transcribed by Lynda D. Prouse from recorded interviews), 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.

Gillooly responded with surprise that "groundless claims" against him could be published and specifically contended her gang rape accusation to be "utterly ridiculous.

The plot centered on Harding being unwittingly involved in an organized crime syndicate's attempt to violently recover $300,000 of stolen money.

[143][user-generated source] Harding has also appeared on television, on the game show The Weakest Link: "15 Minutes of Fame Edition" in 2002 along with Kato Kaelin,[144] and in March 2008, became a commentator for TruTV's truTV Presents: World's Dumbest....[145] Since leaving skating and boxing, Harding has worked as a welder, a painter at a metal fabrication company, and a hardware sales clerk at Sears.

On February 22, 2003, she made her official women's professional boxing debut, losing a four-round split decision against Samantha Browning on the undercard of Mike Tyson vs. Clifford Etienne.

[169] On October 29, 1996, Harding received media attention after using mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to help revive an 81-year-old woman who collapsed at a bar in Portland while playing video poker.

He noted how she was subjected to a "litany of vaguely pejorative or mocking expressions" associated with "low class" cultural attributes, sometimes due to Harding's personal interests and hobbies.