Kerrigan was the 1992 Olympic Bronze medalist, the 1993 US National Champion, the 1994 Olympic Silver medalist, and a two-time world medalist. I’m telling you that because you knew none of that information. What you did know is that Kerrigan was beaten in the leg with a police baton by the ex-husband of rival skater Tonya Harding in an attempt to eliminate her from competing in the 1994 Winter Olympics.
I’d be willing to bet that outside the three skaters mentioned in this post, Chazz Michael Michaels, and Jimmy MacElroy, you would not be able to name one other figure skater. But I bet you can envision Kerrigan holding her leg and writhing in pain after breaking her leg. That was a cultural moment that was impossible to ignore.
That’s why it was no mistake that former skating world champion and Dancing With The Stars winner Kristi Yamaguchi wished Kerrigan luck in her DWTS premiere with a tongue-in-cheek jab.
— Kristi Yamaguchi (@kristiyamaguchi) March 20, 2017
Saying ‘break a leg’ to Nancy Kerrigan is like saying ‘fingers crossed’ to Jason Pierre-Paul. It’s tough to tell if Kristi hates or loves Kerrigan, which is why this tweet is brilliant.
Twitter reacted accordingly.
— Stephen Miller (@redsteeze) March 22, 2017
— John Asante (@jkbasante) March 22, 2017
— Micah Singleton (@MicahSingleton) March 22, 2017
— Carmichael Dave (@CarmichaelDave) March 22, 2017
— B97 (@b97) March 23, 2017
— kylie sparks (@kyliesparks) March 22, 2017
