Tonya Harding vs. Nancy Kerrigan Documentary
5. Since it is the time of the 2014 Winter Olympics, I thought it would be interesting to research and see if there was ever any acts of violence between the Olympians. When I came across the Tonya Harding vs. Nancy Kerrigan documentary I was shocked. Violence between rivals from different countries during the Olympics is horrible enough, but violence between rivals from the same team is just unspeakable. Harding and Kerrigan were both figure skaters on the United States Olympic Team. They were always competitive about being the best female skater on the team even though they had completely different styles of skating. Apparently, Kerrigan was "clubbed in the knee" by a complete stranger who Harding had paid to injure Kerrigan. Unfortunately, Kerrigan's injuries were bad enough that she could not skate in the 1994 Olympic Games. This event is proof that crimes can be driven by intense jealousy or fear. Harding was obviously jealous of Kerrigan's skating abilities and was afraid that she would place higher than her in the Figure Skating portion of the Olympics. Harding felt she had no other choice than to end one of her teammates skating careers in order to stay on top.
The pressure of constantly being the best is placed upon people by society, family or friends. If too much pressure is placed on a person, that person will eventually crack. There is a lot of competitive energy and pressure in sports that could be enough to drive a person insane. Harding got away with her crime for a while, but was eventually caught and ended up pleading guilty. She avoided prison but was forced to perform community service, pay a fine, quit the U.S. Figure Skating Association and was striped of her title. Was injuring her teammate worth all of the consequences she faced? Definitely not. Violence occurs everywhere and can be done by anyone, even admired Olympians who seem to have everything.
(3) After reading about Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan I was shocked to hear that this kind of violence would happen with two people from the same team. It wouldn't have seemed as shocking if it happened between two different teams. You would think that Harding and Kerrigan would be supportive of each other because they were both on the US team. I understand Harding being jealous of Kerrigan but I think that hiring someone to injure her was definitely going way too far. I kind of feel bad for Harding because of all of the pressure to be the best that was probably put on her. I don't think that this pressure justifies her actions but I think that people should put less pressure on athletes. People tend to look up to Olympians and after hearing this, it makes you realize that they aren't as perfect as the media makes them seem.
ReplyDelete#3:What a coincidence! Right before this year's winter Olympics began, I watched a long documentary on these two American athletes. I was so shocked to hear this story and how much National attention it ended up getting and the amount of greed that some people develop in their lives that leads to such hateful crimes. Being an athlete myself I find that I am jealous at times of people that do better than me but I've never had such harsh feelings towards a competitor. Even if I was in a situation at the Olympics I would respect my fellow compatriots. I can't begin to imagine the amount of pressure put on these two athletes because they had to always be at the top of their game let alone the pressures put on today's athletes in society. I think it's ridiculous that kids are expected to reach perfection and this story about Kerrigan and Harding is a great way to help spread awareness about the increased amount of pressure in society.
ReplyDelete#3- Wow it's actually scary how jealousy and envy can lead to violence. We all get a little jealous of people sometimes but to have someone injury our own teammate so she couldn't compete against us is ridiculous. I agree with you about all the pressure put on a person to compete and all the rivalry there is. Harding was an extreme example of this because she wanted to be number one so badly I guess.
ReplyDelete#4 Wow this was very interesting to read about! The fact that violent crime is seen in the Olympics is a scary thought. What's even scarier is how these people were on the same team!! I find it crazy how Harding hired someone to injure Kerrigan out of jealousy. I agree with you that there is a lot of high competitive energy in sports and does put a lot of pressure on a person. I also agree that there is a lot of pressure being the best from family and friends.
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