The Winter Olympics are almost here. Each week the news coverage increases and the excitement builds.  It’s almost impossible if you grew up in the 90s to think about the winter Olympics without remembering Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan. Over the years the two woman have stayed in the public spotlight by doing interviews, writing books, and the event was even recently recaptured in the movie “I, Tonya.”

The attack on Nancy Kerrigan right before that National Ice Skating Championships in 1994 was one of the biggest news stories of the decade. The images of a tearful Nancy Kerrigan clutching her legs and screaming in pain after she was attacked with a metal bar is a powerful image. The story was further sensationalized when twelve days later Tonya Harding tearfully announced that she had learned who was behind the attack when she returned home from the National Championships but had not immediately come forward with the information.

The United States Figure Skating Association quickly scheduled a hearing to determine ff Harding should be permitted to skate in the Olympics. Tonya Harding responded by filing a lawsuit asking for the hearing to be canceled and requesting 20 million dollars in damages.  

This winter, lead your students through the drama with “One Way to Beat an Opponent: Analysis from Multiple Perspectives.” Students will approach the facts in the situation and analyze them from the perspective of Tonya Harding, Nancy Kerrigan, and The US Figure Skating Association. Use the excitement over the winter Olympics and the drama of this famous story to engage your students in critical thinking!

To download “One Way to Beat an Opponent” visit our Teachers Pay Teachers store here.


To order a critical thinking assessment for your students or to learn how your school or organization can adopt thinkLaw’s standards-aligned program that helps educators teach critical thinking to all students, please click here to schedule a time to speak with someone on the thinkLaw team or call us now at (702) 318-7512. Join us on our next webinar: Thinking Like a Lawyer: Powerful Strategies to Teach Critical Thinking to All Students

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