A Timeline

Monday, May 8, 2006
From The Oregonian's staff, Katy Muldoon and wire reports

A meeting. A whack on the knee. Lies, deceit, scheming, more lies.

The Tonya Harding story had sports, sleaze and more.

The events as they unfolded both fascinated and disturbed Portland and the nation.

Major networks, The New York Times and every tabloid television show from Australia to Japan descended on Portland, setting up camp across from the Justice Center Jail in downtown Portland. They chased principals in the case, each other and peripheral figures with checkbooks in hand.

February 1991: Tough, athletic Tonya Harding lands the daring triple axel during the U.S. Figure Skating Championships. The Portlander is the first U.S. woman to do so. She's the national champ.

Jan. 6, 1994: An assailant clubs Nancy Kerrigan, Harding's skating rival, on the right knee with a metal baton as she leaves skating practice in Detroit, then flees without being identified. Kerrigan's injury forces her to drop out of the skating competition, which Harding wins.

Jan. 9, 1994: Detroit police release composite drawings of man suspected of attacking Kerrigan.

Jan. 10, 1994: Harding returns to Portland escorted by Shawn E. Eckardt, her bodyguard.

Jan. 11, 1994: The FBI begins investigating an allegation that Eckardt and Harding's ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly, orchestrated the attack on Kerrigan. A Portand minister, Eugene Saunders, tells investigators he's heard of tape of Eckardt, Gillooly and friend Shane M. Stant discussing the "hit."

Jan. 12, 1994: Eckardt confesses to the FBI, implicating Harding, Gillooly, and two of Eckardt's friends, Stant and Derrick B. Smith.Multnomah County authorities arrest Eckardt and Smith, charging them with conspiracy to commit second-degree assault.

Jan. 14, 1994: Stant surrenders to the FBI in Phoenix, Ariz., and is charged with conspiring to assault Kerrigan. His grandmother, Mae Loomis, is cited for menacing after taking a few potshots at a KGW reporter who had gone to her Corbett home for an interview.

Jan. 15, 1994: Figure skating officials meet to decide whether Harding can compete in the Olympics in February.

Jan. 16, 1994: Kerrigan resumes practicing in Boston.

Jan. 18, 1994: Harding separates from Gillooly after meeting with investigators for more than 10 hours. She declares her innocence and wishes Gillooly well. Stant returns to Portland to face charges in the attack on Kerrigan.

Jan 19, 1994: Gillooly turns himself in after an arrest warrant is issued. Eckardt says the conspiracy had been hatched by Gillooly. Claims surface that Gillooly threatened Harding on several occasions during their marriage. Harding continues to deny her involvement in the attack on Kerrigan.

Jan 21, 1994: Tonya Harding returns to the ice for practice for the first time in 10 days at the Clackamas Town Center. A grand jury continues to hear testimony.

Jan. 22, 1994: Investigators fly to Los Angeles to interview Kerrigan, who's filming a commercial there.

Jan. 23, 1994: Investigators say they have enough evidence to arrest Harding but want to build an airtight case before going forward.

Jan. 26-27, 1994: Gillooly confesses to the FBI, implicating himself, Harding, Eckardt, Smith and Stant. Harding continues to train for the Olympics, while product endorsement experts predict that her chance at garnering advertisement income is practically zero.

Jan. 27, 1994: Harding meets the press and reads a statement admitting she failed to report things she knew about the assault on Kerrigan. "Despite my mistakes and rough edges, I have done nothing to violate the standards of excellence in sportsmanship that are expected in an Olympic athlete." The U.S. Olympic Committee hisses and boos but does nothing.

Jan. 31, 1994: Gillooly says Harding approved the attack on Kerrigan. Nike pledges $25,000 to help keep Harding in the Olympics.

Feb. 1, 1994: Gillooly pleads guilty to racketeering in exchange for a 24-month sentence. A restaurant owner in Northwest Portland finds Gillooly and Harding's trash in his trash bin and turns it over to the FBI. Gillooly's attorney, Ron Hoevet, accuses Harding of conspiracy and is roundly criticized by other attorneys.

Feb. 2, 1994: Harding falls while practicing, and her pickup won't start. The networks and national press go gaga.

Feb. 3, 1994: The trash found in the container reveals notes apparently written by Harding, including the telephone number of Kerrigan's practice arena.

Feb. 5, 1994: The U.S. Figure Skating Association meets to discuss allegations against Harding. The group schedules a disciplinary hearing and gives Harding 30 days to respond to charges that she did something detrimental to the welfare of figure skating.

Feb. 10, 1994: Harding sues the U.S. Olympic Committee to stop it from a planned hearing to discuss whether she should participate in the Olympics.

Feb. 11, 1994: A Clackamas County judge asks attorneys for the USOC and Harding to try to work out a compromise.

Feb. 12, 1994: Harding drops her lawsuit, and the Olympic committee decides to cancel its hearing. Harding will skate in the Olympics.

Feb. 25, 1994: Kerrigan wins the Olympic silver medal in Norway while Harding, still under investigation by Oregon authorities, finishes eighth. During her first artistic performance, she stops when a skate shoelace breaks. She's allowed to continue, but the magic is gone. Olympic television ratings soar.

March 16, 1994: In Portland, Harding pleads guilty to conspiracy to hinder prosecution. A judge places her on probation for three years and orders her to pay $160,000 in fines and contributions. She also agrees to resign from the U.S. Figure Skating Association.

March 21, 1994: A Multnomah County grand jury indicts Eckardt, Smith and Stant on several charges, including racketeering and conspiracy to commit second-degree assault. They plead not guilty.

May 16, 1994: Eckardt pleads guilty to racketeering. Smith and Stant plead guilty to conspiracy to commit second-degree assault and are led away in handcuffs to begin their 18-month prison sentences.

April 30, 1994: The NBC docudrama "Tonya and Nancy: The Inside Story" debuts to lukewarm ratings. Other networks decide to pass on producing more made-for-television films on the subject.

June 21, 1994: Harding manages wrestler Art Barr, "The American Love Machine," for one night.

June 30, 1994: Harding is stripped of her 1994 national figure skating title and banned for life from the U.S. Figure Skating Association.

July 11, 1994: Eckardt is sentenced to 18 months in prison.

July 13, 1994: Gillooly is sentenced to two years in jail and fined $100,000 for racketeering.

Aug. 1994: Pictures taken from the video of Tonya and Jeff Gillooly's wedding night appear in the 25th anniversary issue of Penthouse magazine.

Sept. 12, 1994: Gillooly enters a prison boot camp. If he completes it, he'll be freed March 13, 1995.

Oct. 7, 1994: The Tonya Harding Fan Club, which grew to nearly 2,000 members during this Olympic year, begins disbanding. A disagreement between Harding and some officers of the fan club over disbursement of the money in the fan club account had flared on several occasions, including once at the bank where the account is based.

Nov. 3, 1994: Portland artist Deforrest unveils 60 silk-screen prints of Tonya Harding and charges $5,000 a pop.

Dec. 24, 1994: Harding skates as Mrs. Santa Claus at the Clackamas Town Center. It's her first public skating performance since the Olympics.

Feb. 1996: Harding tells police she was abducted at knifepoint in Oregon by a bushy-haired man who was never caught.

Oct. 1996: Harding calls 9-1-1 and gives mouth-to-mouth resuscitation after a customer collapses in a Milwaukie tavern.

Feb. 1997: During a two-minute performance preceding a Reno Renegades hockey game, Harding is subjected to booing, catcalls, and thrown batons.

Oct. 1997: Harding's pickup is apparently stolen from the Vancouver Mall parking lot.

Feb. 1998: Fox Broadcasting airs the first-ever face-to-face interview between figure skaters Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan.

Feb. 1999: Harding says the way has been cleared for her return to skating, but United States Figure Skating Association officials say her status has not changed.

Sept. 1999: Harding plans to make her professional skating debut Oct. 18-19 in the Pro Skating Championships in Huntington, W. Va.

1994-2006: Harding stays in the spotlight -- singing, acting, managing a wrestler, attempting a skating comeback (as a pro), boxing, driving into a ditch then serving 10 days after failing a field sobriety test, and the infamous incident that involved a boyfriend and one flung hubcap. She recently told the New York Daily News that these days she's entertaining offers to do -- what else? -- reality TV.