Tonya Harding and the state of Oregon

[LeReveur]

Hi, forum readers.

I'm not about to write a thesis about how Tonya affects conditions in Oregon . Rather, I am interested in geography and how that subject applies to the intersection of Tonya and Oregon.

Where exactly is Tonya from? Where did she skate? Where does she live now? I vaguely recall learning that a rink where she used to train closed, was torn down, or something to that effect, but I cannot remember the details.

I just visited Oregon for the first time and was extremely impressed :dance:, so this thread is inspired by wanting to know more about how Tonya figures into Oregon.

It's not listed in the thread title, but feel free to put in other skating references to Oregon (other great skaters who hail from the state, for example).

Thanks in advance for any contributions.

 

[Ice Dance]

I think if you google "Tonya Harding" and "Oregon" you can probably find all the answers to your questions. I'm not up to the task so please take all of my answers with a grain of salt.

I believe . . .
Tonya originally skated at the Lloyd Center mall in Portland. The mall underwent serious renovations and was closed for a number of years, but it was thoroughly updated and continues to have a skating rink that offers lessons along with public skating.

She grew up somewhere in the Portland area, though it may have been in one of the edge communities like Gresham rather than in the heart of the city.

Haven't the foggiest idea where she lives now.

I believe that the dance team, Chloe Lewis & Logan Bye, are both from Oregon. (They train with Shpilband in Detroit now). They are the 2013 U.S. Novice dance champions, 6th & 7th place finishers at the last two U.S. Junior Championships, and----just knocked off the fourth place team from Junior Worlds at the Chesapeake Open this past month.

To my knowledge there has never been much of an elite skating program in Oregon, either before Tonya or since then. Kudos to both her and Lewis & Bye for getting to Nationals at all.

About the only anecdote I can tell you about Tonya and Oregon is that on her stop in Portland while she was on tour (probably Champions on Ice after the 1992 Olympics), she came out and did an extra home-state performance wearing a Blazers jersey. (Tonya is a very small person. She always looks bigger on television because of her musculature, but she's very petite so I'm pretty sure that jersey looked rather huge on her).

U.S. Nationals was held in Portland, OR the year that Kimmie Meisner was given credit for her triple axle. (Bumping Tonya off the list as the only American lady credited with a triple axle at U.S. Nationals, though Tonya remains the only American lady accredited with the jump internationally).

 

[stella luna]

Last I heard, she was living in Vancouver, Washington.

 

[mrrice]

Tonya was a very exciting skater to see live. And I will definitely agree that she was shockingly tiny when I saw her in Oakland. She was sooooo fast, much faster than all the other skaters at the event. Every time I think about the whole "Whack" situation it still bothers me. I wish she had called me instead of listening to those idiots around her. Even though she "Won" nationals, it couldn't have really meant anything to her without Nancy being there. Uhggg.

All those years of skating and her reputation were ruined in Detroit. Not mention that Nancy was traumatized and thrown forever into this horrible fiasco. Sad......

 

[Mathman]

"Tonya and Nancy: the Rock Opera" opens next weekend off Broadway. Tonya is played by Tracy McDowell and Nancy by the better-known Janet Leigh Green. (Green played the wicked witch of the east in Wicked).

http://newimages.bwwstatic.com/upload11/1047380/tonyanancy1.jpg

A one-act version played in Portland a few years ago. Reportedly, Tonya attended and thought it was great.

 

[leoncorazon]

I actually saw Tonya at Lloyd Center one day while casually shopping...I actually heard her jumps hit the ice and thought wow, that sounds interesting...then I look over the edge and there she is...in black tights hitting huge triple jumps...no one else was on the ice so I just watched for quite a while...I believe it was after the whole Nancy thing so I was surprised to see her in such good shape.