Nancy hopes to skate by ‘Dancing’ foes
Silver medalist Nancy Kerrigan insists her Olympic figureskating skills aren't giving her any special edge in this season of ABC's “Dancing With The Stars.” “They couldn't be more different,” Kerrigan told the Track about skating and ballroom dancing. “In one, I trained for 20 years. In the other, I may not be around for 10 weeks! In skating, the objective was the competition. In `Dancing With The Stars,' the objective is fun and participation. So I look at them very differently.”
Kerrigan famously won a silver medal in the 1994 Winter Olympics — despite being attacked with a baton wielded by a thug hired by the ex-husband of her skating rival, Tonya Harding.
The dancing show's 2017 cast boasts other boldfacers like fellow Olympian Simone Biles, recent “Bachelor” Nick Viall and '80s throwback Mr. T. But Kerrigan isn't shaking in her skates — mainly because the woman just wants to have fun. “I am really not looking at the `competition,' ” she said. “Everyone involved is learning to do something that they don't do in a very short period of time,” Kerrigan added. “The fact that they all did such a nice job in the first show tells you that they are all working hard, but also having a good time. So this is a very different perspective.”
If Kerrigan did have to chose a competitive threat, she wouldn't even go with another contestant.
“Probably my biggest competition is myself, as I try to use muscles and movement in a way that I am not used to,” she said.
Dancing might not be her forte, but repping Massachusetts is. “We have been training in a few different studios in Reading and Lynnfield,” she said.
“It is always a plus when I can do something that brings attention to Massachusetts, and in particular, the Boston area. Everyone has been really supportive, which is a huge help to me, which I greatly appreciate.”