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The United States figure skating championships begin Thursday in Detroit, 25 years after Nancy Kerrigan was attacked there by associates of Tonya Harding.
It is a sport where drama and scandal, on the ice and off, are as commonplace as sequins. The outrageous and bumbling clubbing of Kerrigan on Jan. 6, 1994, made skating more popular than it has ever been. Television ratings soared, along with skaters’ paychecks. Last year, the mockumentary “I, Tonya” even won an Academy Award for best supporting actress.
But skating’s attraction has long ebbed outside of the Olympics.