It could have been much worse for Nancy Kerrigan.
Shane Stant, the man who whacked the then-Olympic hopeful with a collapsible baton in an effort to further the figure skating career of Kerrigan’s rival, Tonya Harding, opened up about the plot to Inside Edition in an interview airing Thursday.
“The ultimate goal was so that she wouldn’t skate at the Nationals,” said Stant, a close friend of Harding’s then-husband, Jeff Gillooly.
“There was initial talk of like, cutting her Achilles tendon, which obviously would cripple her. I didn’t think it was necessary. I wasn’t willing to do that on top of that.”
What Stant was willing to do was club Kerrigan’s knee as she exited the ice on that fateful night 24 years ago.
After the incident, Stant pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit second-degree assault. He spent 18 months in prison for the attack, in which Harding still insists she played no role.
“I knew that something was up,” Harding, now 47, told ABC News earlier this month of Gillooly’s alleged plot. “I did, however, overhear them talking about stuff, where, ‘Well, maybe we should take somebody out so we can make sure she gets on the team.’ I go, ‘What the hell are you talking about?’”
Stant’s interview comes less than a week after Harding’s publicist dumped her for demanding $25,000 fines for any journalist who asked about her past. The incident has been in the news since the release of the Margot Robbie film “I, Tonya,” after Harding made several appearances with the actress.