Thirty years after her name was linked to the orchestrated assault of Nancy Kerrigan, Tonya Harding trended all over social media after a wild high school track attack.
The bizarre incident happened at the Virginia High School League Class 3 State Indoor Championships at Liberty University last week, when a runner named Alaia Everett appeared to hit another runner over the head with a baton during the 4x200m relay.
Kaelen Tucker, the athlete who was hit, reportedly suffered a concussion and a potential skull fracture.
Video of the alleged attack went viral, which caused Harding’s name to be invoked by some individuals drawing a line between the incident in Virginia and the 1994 attack of Kerrigan, during which Kerrigan was struck in the knee with a baton by a hitman hired by Harding’s then-husband, Jeff Gillooly, and Harding’s then-bodyguard, Shawn Eckardt.
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“This is Tonya Harding 2.0, imo,” one person wrote via X. “She should, at a minimum, be charged with assault and the intent to injure!”
Another person called Everett the “Tonya Harding of track and field!”
“I hope they ban her for life,” the individual added.
In an interview with WAVY TV 10 (an ABC affiliate in Norfolk, Virginia) on Sunday, March 9, alleged assailant Everett attempted to explain that the entire ordeal was one big misunderstanding.
“After a couple times of hitting her with my baton, I got stuck behind her back and (the baton) rolled up her back,” Everett said. “I lost my balance, and when I pumped my arms again, she got hit.”
Everett added, “I know my intentions and I would never hit somebody on purpose.”
The aftermath and social media backlash has taken a toll on Everett, a senior at I.C. Norcom High School in Portsmouth, Virginia.
“They’re assaulting my character, calling me ghetto, racist slurs, death threats, all of this, just because of a nine second video,” she said.
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The Everett family has been served court papers saying Tucker and her family are seeking a protective order against them.
“It doesn’t seem right that this would happen and now we have to go to a city three hours away that everyone hates our guts already,” Everett’s father, Genoa, told WAVY TV 10.
As for Harding, now 54, she pleaded guilty in March 1994 to a charge of “conspiracy to hinder prosecution” in relation to the assault on Kerrigan. She received three years probation and was issued a $160,000 fine.
Three months later, Harding was banned from U.S. Figure Skating for life. She has yet to comment on the recent incident.
