Tonya Harding

Harding was born in 1970 and grew up in Portland, Oregon. Her mother, LaVona, had been married five times by the time Harding was born, and the family

Tonya Harding

moved often due to their reduced financial circumstances. "I changed schools just about every year, so I didn't have friends hardly at all," Harding told E. M. Swift in Sports Illustrated. "I was basically a loner." Harding was close to her father, Al, who taught her how to fish, shoot a rifle, and even rebuild a car engine. She began skating at the age of three, when her parents took her to a mall and she was fascinated by the skaters on the indoor rink. Enrolled in group lessons with a pair of secondhand skates, Harding proved such a natural talent that her teacher soon suggested private lessons. At the time, these were $25 a week, and her mother struggled to make enough tips at her waitressing job to pay for them.

Considered the sport of affluent youths, figure skating drains a family's time and resources immensely: costs for serious competition training can run as high as $30,000 a year. Harding's longtime coach, Diane Rawlinson, was supportive and empathized with the family's dedication to their daughter's love of skating. Rawlinson donated her lessons when money was tight, bought Tonya skates, and even found friends and business owners willing to sponsor her travel costs.