Tonya Maxene Harding (born November 12, 1970) is an American former figure skating champion, a two-time Olympian, and a two-time Skate America Champion. In 1991, she won the U.S. Figure Skating Championships and placed second in the World Championships. Harding was the second woman, and the first American woman, to complete a triple Axel jump in competition. In 1994, she was banned for life from the U.S. Figure Skating Association and pled guilty to hindering the prosecution following the attack on fellow skater Nancy Kerrigan.