The Dragon Lady Skating Mothers

[SkateFan4Life]

The Dragon Lady Skating Mothers

Tonya Harding's mother had a glacier-size chip on her shoulder, and her attitude problems spilled out all over the ice rink and at home.

Tonya's mom was quoted as saying, "No matter what I do, it's not good enough. The powers that be always criticize me because I'm not rich and don't own a fur coat when I attend skating competitions. I couldn't care less."

She even went so far as defend her verbal attacks on her daughter - "Tonya needs to be motivated. If you tell her she's doing well, she'll get lazy. I have to put her down so she'll fight back and skate well."

Egads!!

 

[berthes ghost]

Apparently the abuse is a vicious cycle, because "Tonya needs to be motivated. If you tell her she's doing well, she'll get lazy. I have to put her down so she'll fight back and skate well." is the most accurate thing I've ever heard said about Tonya.

 

[Ladskater]

I don't doubt Peggy's enthusiasm to skate, but I understand her mother kept tight control of things - especially with her coach and made sure her daughter was his number one concern.

You know the old saying "behind every great man (or woman in this case) there is a woman!"

 

[SkateFan4Life]

In the made-for-television movie, "Champions", the mother of the female pairs skater told the male member of the pair, "You and my daughter can compete together on the National level until you reach the point where you stop moving up the ranks. After that, you should turn professional. My daughter's name will always go before your name on the billing." If I recall this correctly, the mother gave this little spiel with a bit an attitude - actually a MAJOR attitude.

 

[NanSinger2]

SkateFan,

Thank goodness someone else besides me remembers that movie! I can't believe it hasn't been shown again on Lifetime or TNT at some point, especially in an Olympic year. I don't think it's available on VHS or DVD. I thought it was a great movie, and I loved Jimmie McNichol in it. Do you remember who played the female lead?

 

[SkateFan4Life]

Nan, as for the "Champions" movie, I think this one was a bit of a tear jerker, too. The guy either died or was physically unable to skate any longer, so his partner, now a solo skater, turned professional and became a star on the pro touring circuit.

Why do these movies have to require us to bring box of Kleenex?

 

[NanSinger2]

Actually, he dies in a plane crash. I know, I wish they could just make a regular movie about figure skating. Why do they have to be so drama filled? The Cutting Edge was the only skating movie that didn't have someone with big drama and no one died.

 

[heyang]

I totally forgot about Champions until I read it here. I checked IMDB.COM and discovered that this was a made-for-TV movie. The description of the plot is minimal, but here's the link to the page.

http://us.imdb.com/Title?0078951#comment