She Destroyed Her Career

The 1994 Tonya Harding scandal involved a conspiracy to break the leg of rival figure skater Nancy Kerrigan, orchestrated by Harding’s ex-husband Jeff Gillooly to ensure Harding’s path to Olympic gold. While the January attack failed to break the leg, it caused a massive media sensation. Though Harding pleaded guilty only to hindering the prosecution after the fact, the scandal resulted in a lifetime ban from U.S. Figure Skating and an eighth-place finish at the 1994 Olympics, forever defining her career as one of the most bizarre in sports history.