- and was sentenced to three years of probation, 500 hours of community service and was forced to pay The New York Timesreported, The New York Timesreported. Tonya Harding was banned for life from the U.S. Figure Skating Association in June 1994, Cosmopolitanreported. In an interview with The New York Times that was publishedin January 2018, Tonya Harding told the paper Tonya Harding knew the attack would follow Tonya Harding for the rest of Tonya Harding life. I knew that this would be with me for the rest of my life.