Tonya Harding is re-entering the world stage, and “if anyone remembers [her],” you may not recognize her.
The former Olympic skater, now 54, looked a far cry from the glitz and glam most folks would be used to seeing from her skating days in a rare personal video posted on her brand new X account.
“Hey everyone! I am Tonya Harding, and I’m on X!” she exclaimed in the selfie-style clip announcing her arrival to the app formerly known as Twitter. “Oh my God, I’m so excited!”
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“Happy New Year,” she added. “Join me there and let’s chat it up. Love you! God bless!” she concluded before blowing a kiss to the camera. “Bye!”
The athlete appeared to be makeup-less, with her long blonde hair pulled back into a tight ponytail, and she wore a blue zip-up over a basic black t-shirt.
“Hi everyone! I’ve finally figured out how to make an account on here!!” she reiterated excitedly on the social media platform on Wednesday, Jan. 29. “I’m very excited to reconnect with you all (if anyone remembers me),” she added. “With love, Tonya.”
Hi everyone! I've finally figured out how to make an account on here!!
I'm very excited to reconnect with you all
(if anyone remembers me) 😄With love,
Tonya pic.twitter.com/lfhiwdeYbY— Tonya Harding (@itstonyaharding) January 29, 2025
Harding is a difficult person to forget, even decades after her infamous scandal.
In Jan. 1994, Harding, then 24, and Nancy Kerrigan were getting ready to compete for a spot on the Olympic team. The day before competing for the national title at the U.S. Figure Skating National Championships, a hitman entered the women’s locker room and struck Kerrigan in the leg. Harding’s partner at the time, Jeff Gillooly, hired the hitman, and it’s long been believed that Harding was a part of the plan.
She eventually pleaded guilty to trying to hinder the prosecution of the attackers and was sentenced to three years of probation, 500 hours of community service, and a $160,000 fine. She was also stripped of her national championship title and banned from figure skating for life.
“You’re hard to forget!” one new follower assured her, adding that they “hope [she’s] happy and well.”
“Are you still ice skating?” another wondered, while someone else equated watching her “do a triple in 94” to “one of the greatest moments in sports history.”
“You’re the champ,” they added.
But, as someone else noted, her introduction to the social media platform felt like “Super odd timing,” as later that day, “several members” of the United States Figure Skating team were involved in a tragic accident when their plane collided with a military helicopter on approach to Washington D.C.’s Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The identities of those passengers have yet to be confirmed.
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