I found this clip on youtube. I had never seen it before. She was 15 in this program. Pretty impressive when you consider in 1986 the top women pretty much only did two different triples, the toeloop and salchow.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTesl...onya%20Harding
Also, found another rare clip.
This is from 1991 Skate America, where she landed the triple axel in the short program.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2Up_...onya%20Harding
Last edited by hydroradi; 07-11-2006 at 11:58 PM.
Few have had that much height in their jumps.
2 things struck me as I watched that clip:
The first........that hair!!! OMG! LOL
The second thing was the energy level at the end of her program. Wow. I guess that was before she started smoking, etc......
She had such potential!!!
What a waste... I so loved Tonya back in the day...
I know!! Even by mid-80s standards, that was GOD. AWFUL.Originally Posted by Kathleen
And frosted, no less, if I remember right. I lived in Oregon during the late 80s when Tonya was coming along and there would be newspaper profiles on her from time to time and I remember thinking even at the time how hideous that hair was.
Artur Dmitriev smoked throughout his skating career, and that didn't stop him from earning 3 Olympic medals...
No, but he certainly wasn't known for his stamina either.
Not that it was just the smoking that did Tonya in.............
Well, that might be open for question, given the fact we've never heard any actual verification of WHAT she was smoking at certain periods of her life.....
So did Dorothy. 2 packs of Marlboro a day!
Tonya was my favorite way back when. Such a shame, so much talent. I always loved her ina baur, layback and other spins, and the height she could get in her jumps! She did have a lot of energy in her programs and showed how athletic she was.
I forgot how BIG her hair was...ah, the '80's hair!
Also Elizabeth Manley, Rosalynn Sumners, Elaine Zayak (to name a few) had that terrible hair. It was the style of the 80s.
I don't think I had ever seen a clip of her as old as the 1986 one. The short hair was quite different. It was also weird to hear Judy Blumberg talking about "maturity" and "artistry" --but she was actually right about 15 year old Tonya. Unfortunately the maturity and artistry really didn't develop any further--but her jumps stayed stellar a long time until her inconsistent training habits, chaotic personal life, etc got the best of her.
It is not too hard to imagine what that raw talent might have become in someone who could handle life better than Tonya was able to do.
Thank you so much for this. It gave me chillbumps. What wonderful edges & a beaitiful Ina Baur. So sad she had to pay so much for what her husband did. Thanks for the memories.
Last edited by sk8addict; 07-13-2006 at 12:31 AM.
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