Winter Olympics

Kristi Yamaguchi told Nancy Kerrigan to 'break a leg' on 'DWTS'

Published Mar. 23, 2017 12:18 p.m. ET

Allyssa Lee

No doubt she meant well. But it appears Olympic figure skating gold medalist and "Dancing With the Stars" Season 6 champion Kristi Yamaguchi had a bit of a word slip when she wished her fellow 1992 Winter Olympian Nancy Kerrigan to "break a leg" before Kerrigan's debut on Season 24 of "DWTS" on Monday:

https://twitter.com/kristiyamaguchi/status/843849542562865153

Perhaps Yamaguchi didn't remember that incident when Kerrigan was hit on the right knee by an assailant right before the 1994 nationals. The attack was planned by Kerrigan teammate/rival Tonya Harding's ex-husband to take Kerrigan out of Olympic contention.

The prime choice of words seemed to escape Kerrigan as well:

https://twitter.com/NancyAKerrigan/status/843853723788959744

Though Yamaguchi's turn of phrase did not escape her many Twitter followers, who responded with these pitch-perfect GIFs:

https://twitter.com/redsteeze/status/844597950760304646

https://twitter.com/MicahSingleton/status/844633704785960960

https://twitter.com/kyliesparks/status/844630024128933888

https://twitter.com/CarmichaelDave/status/844656992027226112

https://twitter.com/jkbasante/status/844642824515702787

Ultimately, Kerrigan blamed the oversight to a pair of new contacts.

https://twitter.com/NancyAKerrigan/status/844640013400903684

Though the advice seemed to have worked: Kerrigan and pro partner Artem Chigvintsev ended up near the top of the leaderboard after the first week, earning a 28 out of 40 for their Viennese waltz.

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