* Skating magazine reported that at Skate America in 1991, Harding was stranded in heavy traffic just before her event was scheduled to begin, and had to hitch a ride with people who drove her backwards through traffic to the arena.
* In the short program at the 1993 U.S. Championships, Harding had to ask permission from the referee to restart her program after the back of her dress came unhooked as she began to skate.
* At 1993 Skate America, Harding stopped midway through her free skate and complained to the referee that her skate blade had become loose. She was allowed to resume her program after her blades were checked by a skate technician.
* In late 1993, Harding was scheduled to compete in a regional qualifying competition for the U.S. Championships. However, before the event, its organizers received an anonymous telephoned bomb threat against Harding, which led the United States Figure Skating Association (USFSA) to excuse her from having to qualify. Morry Stillwell, former USFSA president, later asserted in a Usenet posting[3] that the FBI had evidence that Harding herself participated in making the threat.
* The medal ceremony at the 1994 U.S. Championships had to be delayed because Harding could not be found backstage after the competition.
* At the 1994 Winter Olympics, Harding almost failed to appear on the ice when her name was called for the free skating because she was scrambling to replace a broken lace. The replacement lace turned out to be too short, and after missing the opening jump in her program she again had to ask the referee for permission to restart.
Many observers in the skating world, including Scott Hamilton,[4] felt that Harding was deliberately trying to sabotage her career by making excuses for failure. In addition to the incidents listed above, following her 1991 success, she went through a series of coaching changes (at one point she was even attempting to coach herself), and she arrived so late for the competition at the 1992 Olympic Games that her performance was affected by jet lag. In spite of the publicity she received about being handicapped by asthma, she also smoked.
Source: Wikipedia
