Our next spotlight is on Olympic medallist Nancy Kerrigan!
That same year, Nancy won Bronze in the Olympic Winter Games and Silver in the World Championships.
Shortly before the 1994 Olympics, Nancy was clubbed in the knee with a police baton in an attack planned by the ex-husband of her skating rival, Tonya Harding.
Despite this, Nancy managed to win Silver in the Olympics seven weeks later!
Since the 1994 Olympics, Nancy has skated in various ice shows.
Nancy's dance partner for the season will be Artem Chigvintsev, who was born in Russia (then known as the Soviet Union) and moved to the U.S. in 2003. Shortly after arriving, Artem competed on the first season of So You Think You Can Dance. He later went on to join the cast of Strictly Come Dancing as a pro, appearing on four seasons and winning his first with celebrity partner Kara Tointon. In 2014, Artem joined Dancing With the Stars as a troupe member, and is now entered his fifth season as a professional partner.
Some highlights of Artem's television dance career include:
@TheBentleyNinja: Nancy Kerrigan is a name that is always connected to her controversy with Tonya Harding, so maybe Dancing With the Stars can make herself become more than just a name that everyone knows because of a negative reason. While I think it’s a cop-out that Dancing With the Stars probably only casted her because of her previous controversy, I think that Nancy will be able to dance as her own, just like as she does on ice. And of course, being that she is an Olympic figure skater, she has a clear advantage in the competition. But by this point, is that really a big deal anymore? I’ve come to the point while watching this show that I don’t care about who does what and who’s with whom and all that jazz, so having a (possibly unfair) advantage in the competition is just another thing to add to the entertainment of the show. Sure, maybe she’ll make it to the finals with less work required than most others, but that’s good for her (after all, she was the one contacted by the show, and clearly seemed like she badly wanted to be a part in it), and she should be able to use her advantages if she wants to. It’s just a fun show, and I don’t like to look too far into it...although I want do want her to go far because she is part of my fantasy team!).
Artem is definitely going to have a good time dancing with Nancy and all of her different capabilities! This might just be his best partner yet, and frankly, it’s quite refreshing to see! These two will undoubtedly receive high marks for their dances, but I have this random feeling that they will either not do so well with votes and/or be scored too harshly by the judges. Maybe it’s nothing, though.
I want to like Nancy, but I haven't had the best impressions of her yet. At the moment, she is just a figure skater who made it on DWTS. But maybe she and Artem will bring out some early characterization through their dances and rehearsal packages that will win me over!
Oh, and apparently tabloids have been saying that Nancy is a “diva”, but I’ve been seeing that about more than one celebrity this season, and I don’t really trust celebrity news articles anyway.
@juliadelbel: This pairing was pretty predictable to me (I don't know why though lol) but that may be a good thing since I think they'll have great chemistry on the dance floor! This is a partnership I'm keeping a close eye on because it's one of several this season where that stakes are extra-high for both the celebrity and the pro. Nancy has a lot to live up to, as two out of three female figure skater contestants have won Dancing With the Stars (and the one that didn't was a dropout) and Artem has not yet won a disco ball-esque trophy on this side of the pond and Nancy is the biggest ringer he's had over here so far. I'm sure both Nancy and Artem will be eager to impress, and I think they are capable of doing great things.
In most seasons, even in the more competitive ones we've seen recently, Nancy would be one of if not the biggest ringer in the cast, but with this group she'd probably be generally considered to be a relatively low-level ringer. However, this may play out to her advantage, because the anti-ringer mentality seems to be mainly directed at other contestants and that may allow her to sneak in and surprise people and/or get by without a lot of negativity thrown her way.
Despite the clear potential here, I do have a few concerns about Nancy and Artem's partnership. Right now Nancy seems pretty excited and confident, but I do wonder if that confidence might falter at some point because as of right now she seems to be the most likely candidate to be this season's "neurotic nostalgic female" and in the past Artem hasn't been the type of pro who is very good at dealing with those kinds of issues. I'm hoping they can continue the fun and relaxed dynamic they have going so far but I guess time will tell.
(Oh, and Bentley: the source of that rumor isn't a very good one so I'm not buying into it. Yet, anyway. :P)
@juliadelbel: This pairing was pretty predictable to me (I don't know why though lol) but that may be a good thing since I think they'll have great chemistry on the dance floor! This is a partnership I'm keeping a close eye on because it's one of several this season where that stakes are extra-high for both the celebrity and the pro. Nancy has a lot to live up to, as two out of three female figure skater contestants have won Dancing With the Stars (and the one that didn't was a dropout) and Artem has not yet won a disco ball-esque trophy on this side of the pond and Nancy is the biggest ringer he's had over here so far. I'm sure both Nancy and Artem will be eager to impress, and I think they are capable of doing great things.
In most seasons, even in the more competitive ones we've seen recently, Nancy would be one of if not the biggest ringer in the cast, but with this group she'd probably be generally considered to be a relatively low-level ringer. However, this may play out to her advantage, because the anti-ringer mentality seems to be mainly directed at other contestants and that may allow her to sneak in and surprise people and/or get by without a lot of negativity thrown her way.
Despite the clear potential here, I do have a few concerns about Nancy and Artem's partnership. Right now Nancy seems pretty excited and confident, but I do wonder if that confidence might falter at some point because as of right now she seems to be the most likely candidate to be this season's "neurotic nostalgic female" and in the past Artem hasn't been the type of pro who is very good at dealing with those kinds of issues. I'm hoping they can continue the fun and relaxed dynamic they have going so far but I guess time will tell.
(Oh, and Bentley: the source of that rumor isn't a very good one so I'm not buying into it. Yet, anyway. :P)
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