Tonya Harding learned to skate at Portland’s Lloyd Center, long before an Olympic audience knew her name. Now, decades after her competitive career ended, she’s practicing for another chance to perform in front of a crowd. This time, her preparations include a training harness as she works to rebuild her strength.
In an October 30 interview with KOIN 6, Harding, 55, discussed plans to appear in “Tonya and Friends” on December 12, 2026, at Mountain View Ice Arena in Vancouver, Washington. “The love of skating is the reason why I’ve always come back,” Harding told KOIN. “I just can’t walk away from it.”
Preparing to Perform Again
Harding told KOIN she began skating twice a week in the spring, hoping an opportunity to perform would follow. Her training has included the support of a harness while she regains strength. Helping her prepare is Dody Teachman, whose coaching relationship with Harding stretches back to the 1990s.
The December appearance is being described as a public skating show. It does not represent a return to sanctioned competition or an announcement that her lifetime U.S. Figure Skating Association ban has been lifted. For Harding, the immediate goal is getting back in front of an audience. “I just want people to come out and have fun and be able to enjoy a real skating show,” she told KOIN.
A Skating Story That Began in Oregon
Harding’s connection to the Portland area runs through two familiar shopping malls. Born in Portland in 1970, she grew up in Multnomah and Clackamas counties, learned to skate at Lloyd Center and later trained at Clackamas Town Center. Those local rinks were part of her path to national championships and two Winter Olympics, as documented by the Oregon Encyclopedia.
Her breakthrough came at the 1991 U.S. Championships, where she became the first American woman to land a triple Axel in competition. The jump requires three and a half rotations in the air, and Harding completed it during the performance that earned her the national title. U.S. Figure Skating’s historical records still identify that competition as the milestone for an American woman.
She went on to win silver at the 1991 World Championships and finished fourth at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France. Her results placed a skater who had trained in Portland-area malls among the world’s best. Two years later, the attack on Nancy Kerrigan would overshadow those accomplishments.
The History Behind Her Lifetime Ban
In January 1994, Kerrigan was attacked before the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Detroit. Harding’s former husband, Jeff Gillooly, was among the men involved in the plot. Kerrigan recovered in time to compete at the Lillehammer Olympics, where she won silver; Harding finished eighth.
Harding later pleaded guilty to conspiring to hinder prosecution in the investigation. She was not convicted of carrying out or planning the attack. She was stripped of her 1994 national title and received a lifetime ban from the U.S. Figure Skating Association. The planned Vancouver performance gives her another opportunity to skate publicly while that disciplinary history remains part of her story.
Returning to Skating After Years in the Public Eye
Harding has taken several turns in entertainment and sports since 1994, including professional boxing and a third-place finish on the athletes’ season of Dancing with the Stars in 2018. The film I, Tonya, released in 2017 with Margot Robbie in the lead role, introduced her story to another generation. But her latest interview centers on the activity that first brought her public attention.
“It makes my heart feel good,” Harding told KOIN about skating again. “And I am really glad people can come see me skate again.” Her announced appearance is December 12 at Mountain View Ice Arena in Vancouver, across the Columbia River from the Oregon communities where she grew up and trained. A performance time and ticket price were not established in the reporting cited here and should be confirmed before making plans.
