Nancy Kerrigan's famous asault case may have happened exactly twenty years ago but the horror of the event still lives on the people involved, especially champion figure Tonya Harding who became infamous due to her former husband's act of violence.

After the Nancy Kerrigan's assault came to light, Harding became the center of the media's attention and the figure skater only later on confessed that it grew to a point where the attention had become too much for her.

"Trying to train in front of everyone was so much mania," 43-year-old Harding told ESPN. "Every time I'd jump they would all flash, I would fall on my face and hurt myself a couple of times. It just started becoming really impossible just to even concentrate on anything."

The media rollercoaster that followed the assault on Nancy Kerrigan, who was then highly favored to be a 1994 Winter Olympics medalist, brought a lot of negative attention on Harding who was accused of being part of the plan to assault Kerrigan in order to increase her chances of winning the Olympics.

"I just couldn't believe what was being said and stuff," Harding explained. "I never met or talked to-didn't even know the other person involved."
The drama unfolded around six weeks prior to the 1994 Winter Olympics wherein Kerrigan had been the favorite to win the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, the deciding factor for the Olympics representatives.

Two days before the championships, the then 25-year-old Nancy Kerrigan was attacked backstage by an assailant who clubbed her on her right knee using a police baton. The assault forced Kerrigan to drop out of the championships which Harding, who at that time had been a fierce competitor for the Olympics spot, had won first place.

Harding and Kerrigan were given the spots to represent the United States at the Winter Olympics held in Norway that year, despite growing suspicions regarding Harding's possible role on the assault.

Weeks before the Olympics, Harding's former husband Jeff Gillooly and his three accomplices came forward and pleaded guilty in the assault on Nancy Kerrigan. Harding at that time denied her involvement in the attack and having full knowledge before it occurred.

Despite the incident, Harding participated in the Olympics along with Kerrigan, who won a silver medal and the respect of the entire nation.

Two months following the attack on Kerrigan, Harding confessed to being guilty of hindering the prosecution. She admited that she had learned of the plan before the incident but failed to notify police. Harding, then only 23 years old, was banned from competing for life.

Tonya Harding said she lost everything after that as well as claimed that Nancy Kerrigan refused to respond when she came forward with an apology for her former husband's crime.