Editor’s note: This story originally was published Jan. 8, 1994.
For perhaps the first time in figure skating history, athletes won't complain if a high-profile skater receives preferential treatment.
Nancy Kerrigan is expected to be named to the Olympic team tonight, though she withdrew from the U.S. championships following an attack by a club-wielding assailant at Cobo Arena. Kerrigan, who watched Friday night's competition from a suite at Joe Louis Arena, will bump tonight's silver medalist.
That's just fine with Nicole Bobek, Tonya Harding, and Michelle Kwan — the three women likeliest to be affected. Harding leads the women's competition following Friday's technical program, and is followed by Bobek and Kwan. The long program is tonight at Joe Louis.
"I would accept it if Nancy gets the spot over me, " said Bobek, 16, who is having a strong winter. "Nancy has been in it much longer than I have and if the judges choose her, I'd understand."
Kwan's coach, Frank Carroll, concurred: "This happened by no fault of Nancy's. It was tragic, and it would be more tragic to discard her her if she was capable of skating. She deserves to be at the Olympics because she would have finished in the top two here. I really believe that."
Nobody was disputing Kerrigan's credentials.
She is the reigning U.S. champion, the 1992 Olympic bronze medalist, and the 1992 world silver medalist.
"We'd accept that decision graciously, if that's what the committee wants, " said Bobek's coach, Kathy Casey. "She has certainly paid her dues, she's had good international training and if they choose to do that, we'll have our strongest team in Norway."
Harding, the 1991 U.S. champion, is favored to win the title tonight. She skated a near-perfect technical program, receiving first-place marks from all nine judges.
"This program topped the one I did at Skate America, and I thought that was the best I had ever done," said Harding, who was still deciding whether to attempt the elusive triple axel tonight. "I had a lot of speed and confidence. All I can do is do the best I can and focus on that."
Bobek and Kwan should give Harding a fight.
The free-spirited Bobek has lost some weight and is training harder than she did last year. Casey is impressed with her student's improvement.
"There is less flopping around on the ice and a lot more mature skating," Casey said. "She could do all the tricks before, but they're more polished now."
Kwan, the 13-year-old wunderkind, is thrilled to be in third place. She is coming off victories at the world junior championships and the U.S. Olympic Festival.
She and Carroll were stunned by the Kerrigan attack. Carroll was approached by a "strange, sweating" man with a camera during Thursday's practice session. "He was asking who all the skaters were, and acting really strange, " Carroll said. "I thought he seemed out of place, and I brushed him off. I don't know if this was the same man or not, but the whole thing is scary. That's why I never let Michelle go off the ice alone. You just never know what can happen."
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