Kerrigan Answers Her Critics

NEW YORK —  As Nancy Kerrigan’s popularity dwindles, she is starting to question whether the accolades earned from figure skating are worth it.

“Sometimes I wish I’d stopped (skating), when I was 10,” she said Tuesday night during an interview with Jane Pauley on “Dateline NBC.”

A tearful Kerrigan also defended her actions since winning an Olympic silver medal in Norway last month.

“I’m not somebody who has a script,” Kerrigan said. “I talk and feel what’s in my heart and in my head.

“It’s not fair that they put me up on that pedestal because I didn’t want to be there, and I don’t understand why the same people . . . want to take me down so fast.”

Kerrigan apologized for any actions that might have tainted her image.

“I’m an athlete.” she said. “I’m not perfect, I’m not a Disney character. I’m a person.”