Tonya Maxene Price known professionally as Tonya Harding (born November 12, 1970) is a retired American figure skater. She was the 1991 U.S. champion and 1991 World Championship silver medalist. Harding is also a two-time Olympian and a two-time Skate America Champion. She was the first woman to successfully execute two triple axels in a single competition, and the first to complete a triple axel in combination with a double toe loop.
In late 1993, Harding was an Olympian hopeful when she became engulfed in controversy following an attack on skating rival Nancy Kerrigan. After the games ended, she pleaded guilty to hindering the prosecution and was banned for life from the U.S. Figure Skating Association. Harding is the subject of the 2017 movie I, Tonya.
Tonya Harding was born on November 12, 1970 in Portland, Oregon, to LaVona Golden (b. 1940) and Albert Harding (1933–2009). Harding was raised in Portland and began skating at the age of three. As a youth, Harding also hunted, drag raced, and learned automotive mechanics from her father. LaVona struggled to help support the family while she worked as a waitress, and she hand-sewed Tonya's competition skating costumes.