The Ice Princess--(Nancy Kerrigan)

America's Sweetheart

July 12, 1971. There's a beautiful new baby in the Yamaguchi family-Kristi. But something is terribly wrong. Her feet are twisted and turned in. The doctor says she has clubfeet. Kristi may never walk like other people.
Until she's a year old, Kristi wears plaster casts on her feet. For three years after that, she wears special shoes. At night she mush put on a brace. Looking back she says, "It hurt so bad."
More than anything, Kristi wants to walk like other kids. She ignores the pain and does what the doctors tell her. By the time she's five, her feet are much better. But her legs are weak. She has trouble keeping her balance.
One day Kristi goes to an ice show. She adores the costumes and music. When her older sister goes skating, Kristi begs to skate too. Her mother finally agrees.
But as soon as she steps on the ice, her legs feel shaky. Her mom has to skate with her and hold her up. That doesn't matter to Kristi. She is sure she'll get stronger.
She's right. Skating builds her leg muscles. Soon she's doing jumps. By the time she's eight, she's in contests. The older Kristi gets, the more she's at the rink. By twelve, she's skating singles and pairs. At sixteen, she's the U.S. junior champion in both events.
She practices all the time. That makes it hard to go to school. For a while she studies at home with a tutor. But Kristi misses her friends too much.
Back to school she goes. That means she has to get up at 3:45 every morning. Then she practices five hours straight. By 10.30 she's in class. At night she crams in her homework-bedtime is 7:30!
Her size helps her stay light on her feet. Kristi is five feet tall and weighs ninety-three pounds. Her skates are size three. Her dress size is only a one. But Kristi is much stronger than she looks. She can lift 155-pound weights.
In 1992, Kristi wins the U.S. championship. That means she's made it to the Olmpics!
On February 21, Kristi skates for gold. The whole world is watching the finals. It's enough to make anyone nervous. But Kristi is calm-she even takes a nap before skating. When she's on the rink, her black-and-gold costume glitters in the lights. She doesn't hear or see anyone else, she's thinking so hard about her program.
She falls once. Wil it cost her the gold? No-the judges still believe she's the best. Kristi becomes the first American woman to win the gold medal since 1976! "I've dreamed about this since I was a little girl," she says.
Kristi is the first Japanese-American athlete to become a star. Later in 192, she wins the world title again. Today she skates in ice shows just like the one that made her fall in love with skating. She still trains up to eight hours a day. But no matter what, she finds time for rollerblading and shopping.
Off the ice, Kristi is quiet, even shy. She ahs never let her success go to her head. One the rink, she's confident and proud. That's where, she says, "I feel like I can do anything."

The Ice Princess

Detroit, Michigan. January 6, 1994. Practice isi over. Nancy Kerrigan is the last to leave the ice. She's been training hard-the U.S. championships are only two days away. Nancy's favored to win and go on to the Olympics. It looks as if she's going to become a star.
Twenty-four years old, Nancy has waited for this chance. She began skating at the age of six. Back then, she was a tomboy. Now she's grown into an athlete. Her good looks and lovely costumes show off her natural style and grace.
Still in her skates, Nancy walks toward the locker room. She doesn't see a man in a black cap behind her. He's carrying a long metal stick. Suddenly he smashes it into her right knee!
Nancy screams. She falls backward onto the red carpet. Tears are pouring from her eyes. Her father rushes to her side. She looks up at him. "Why me? Why now?" she cries.
nancy's knee is swollen and sore. The next day she can't even bend it. She limps when she walks. Luckily, nothing is broken. But there's no way she can skate in the championships now. Could her dream of stardom be over?
nancy's shaken and scared. The attack has come at a very important point in her career. Last year she flopped at the world championships. This year she was coming back.
At the world championships, Nancy fell apart. Behink her big smile and cool look, she was afraid of doing badly. She seemed to forget she was the 1993 U.S. champ, and the bronze medalist at the 1992 Olmpics. Nancy got so nervous she couldn't make some of her jumps.
Afterward she made herself a promise. She'd prove to everyone she was good enough to win. Ever since, she's been working hard.
The Olympic team invites nancy to skate even though she missed the U.S. championships. She ahs only weeks to get back in shape. Can she recover in time?
She lifts weights…and swims. She rides an exercise bike. To help herself relax, she listens to comedy tapes. She does whatever it takes to get better.