Was Tonya Harding really the best figure skater in the world for a time?
Was this assessment based purely on her ability to complete the triple axel, other elements of her skating, or a combination of both?
shareTonya was mostly known for her ATHLETIC ability (which enabled her to do the TRIPLE AXEL that most of the other females couldn't do at the time back when Tonya competed).
But Artistically, she wasn't as good as the other skaters were that she competed with at that time.
Yeah, she wasn't that great otherwise, no grace, footwork, showmanship, or any of the other things that skating wonks care about. She was just a really good jumper, which is why she usually came in 2nd or 3rd.
shareIf all she could do was jump, she wouldn't have been in the top 10. Clearly she had some skill. But other skaters with less athletic ability were able to compete with her because they were more graceful.
shareIt's all down to how skating is scored, or was scored. Her technical scores were very high, because she was good at all the jumps and spins, but she never scored high enough on the artistic side to ever be one of the best, on the artistic side she did all the usual things but with no flair or grace. She was famous within the US for making the Olympic team and scoring well at the nationals, but without the scandal I don't think she'd ever have won big at the international level.
I was a pretty big skating fan at the time, and she was like Surya Bonaly, known mainly for being able to pull off jumps nobody else could do, but never a judges' favorite.