Nancy & Tonya

Exactly 20 years to the day after the 1994 Olympic Winter Games, Mary Carillo looks back at the events leading up to, during and following the ladies’ figure skating competition in the special one-hour Nancy & Tonya. The documentary, featuring an exclusive sit-down with Nancy Kerrigan and a one-on-one interview with Tonya Harding, debuts this Sunday, February 23 at 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT on NBC – immediately prior to the Closing Ceremony.

One of the most dramatic episodes in Winter Olympics history, the three-hour telecast of the 1994 ladies’ figure skating short-program competition was viewed by more than 126 million Americans – ranking as the fourth-most viewed show at that time in U.S. history (according to Nielsen data released by CBS, which televised the event). In addition, the competition earned a 48.5 rating – meaning nearly 50 percent of the country’s television homes were tuned in – a number which has not been matched since by any television program.

The documentary combines present-day and archival interviews, practice and competition footage, and news coverage leading up to and during the 1994 events. In addition to the principals, Nancy & Tonya features interviews with Nancy Kerrigan’s coaches Mary Scotvold and Evy Scotvold, Tonya Harding’s coach Dody Teachman, and four members of the media who covered the 1994 Winter Games — NBC figure skating analyst and 1984 Olympic gold medalist Scott Hamilton, who was in the booth for CBS; USA Today columnist Christine Brennan; Chicago Tribune columnist Philip Hersh; and former CBS Evening News co-anchor Connie Chung. Nancy & Tonya was produced by Margaret Grossi and edited by Rob Weir.

“I would have chosen a different path, if I could,” Nancy Kerrigan says in the opening of the show. “I would’ve liked to have just done what I had worked so hard for, and not have to be linked like that…as opposed to this horrific act.” (Source: NBC Sports)