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Harding to face Olympic panel
By Larry Siddons
The Associated Press
LILLEHAMMER, Norway — Tonya Harding's lifelong pursuit of a figure skating gold medal could end next week at an Oslo airport hotel, 110 miles shy of this Olympic town and one week short of the start of women's figure skating events.
The U.S. Olympic Committee, troubled by Harding's role in the Nancy Kerrigan assault, called a special hearing for Tuesday to decide whether to bar the U.S. champion skater from the Winter Games.
The committee's decision to convene its Games Administrative Board was buttressed by a 400-page volume of evidence from a figure skating federation inquiry and by Harding's own statements.
"It's not a matter of hearing more, it's a matter of giving Tonya Harding a chance to respond, which she has not had a chance to do," said LeRoy Walker, committee president. He said that Harding could submit her case in person or in writing but that he hoped she would testify. There was no immediate word if she would.
The administrative board is the committee's ultimate authority at the Games, and its decision is final. Harding could sue if she were removed from the team, but Walker said that possibility would not affect the committee's decision.
"We do not wish to respond to this in terms of what may eventually come in terms of suits," he said. "We want to do what is absolutely fair."
The meeting will be held at the SAS Park Royal Hotel, across the street from Fornebu airport. Committee executive director Harvey Schiller said the committee had wanted to meet out of town to keep from disrupting preparations at the Olympic site.
Harding will remain on the team until at least the end of the hearing Tuesday, three days after the Winter Games begin and eight days before the start of women's figure skating.
The panel will be the third to investigate Harding's role in the attack on Kerrigan, who was clubbed on the right knee as she left a practice rink at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Detroit on Jan. 6.
In addition, agrandjury in Multnomah County, Ore., is hearing evidence to determine if allegations by Harding's ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly, are true: That the skater gave the goahead to attack Kerrigan and was involved in the plot and the cover-up.
The U.S. Figure Skating Association is conducting its own investigation of Harding, a process that won't be finished until after the Winter Olympics but which could result in her expulsion from the sport.
Saturday, a skating association panel found "reasonable grounds" to believe Harding was involved in the plot to injure Kerrigan.
Harding said she had learned of the plot after the attack but admitted withholding information from authorities. She said she had feared her former husband and his friends would have retaliated.
As a team member, Harding's airfare to Oslo will be picked up by the committee, but the board must decide who pays for the expenses of her attorneys and other associates. Before yesterday's announcement, Harding was scheduled to arrive in Norway the day of the hearing; it was not known if that plan would change;
Her admission Jan. 27 was accompanied by a plea to have "my last chance" at an Olympic gold medal. The confession and the figure skating panel's findings weighed heavily in the committee's decision to call its own hearing, Schiller said.
"There are a number of issues to be considered," he said. "And among them are statements that she's made in the past few weeks about her knowledge of the attack when she returned to Portland."
If Harding does compete in the Games, she and Kerrigan would have to share the ice for practice. The International Skating Union turned down committee request to to keep them apart during practice.
Skating drama may give CBS top ratings
Bv David Crarv
The Associated Press
LILLEHAMMER, Norway — Yes,
CBS would like Tonya Harding to
compete. Soap opera plus detective
show plus "High Noon" on ice add up
to record ratings.
But even if Nancy Kerrigan skates without her rival, the network's coverage of the women's figure skating finals Feb. 25 is a good bet to be the most watched Olympic telecast ever in the United States.
"A lot of people would be interested in seeing both of them skate, the drama that goes with it," said Mark Harrington, CBS Sports' vice president for the Olympics. "But if she doesn't come, it will still be a great night of skating."
Harrington said he had stopped guessing. "The story's taken so many twists and turns."
Among the CBS legions in Lillehammer — more than 700 strong — opinions are divided as to Harding's chances of competing.
The women's figure skating final traditionally is the most watched Olympic event, summer or winter. The record Olympic Nielsen rating, according to CBS Sports senior vice president Richard Gentile, is 30 for the 1998 Games in Calgary, when Katerina Witt won her second gold medal.
CBS posted a 27 rating in 1992 with Kristi Yamaguchi's gold in Albertville, France, and 30 this year seems easily within reach.
don't want to make projections, fearing they might create unrealistic expectations about Super Bowl-level ratings in the 40s.
"We're going to have a big story no matter what," said Verne Lundiquist, who will handle the skating play-by-play. "But what happens if Nancy falls in her short program (Feb. 23), and suddenly she's struggling just for a place in the top five? You can feel America go, 'Oh my God.'
But Harrington and his colleagues
"That's the fear we all have."
CBS hopes that the Harding-Kerrigan drama will fuel interest in other events rather than distract from them.
But there is no question what event will take the spotlight, and not everyone thinks that the public fascination is healthy.
nie Blair, a three-time winner already, and Dan Jansen, stylized in three past Olympics.
Harrington cited the Olympic comeback of 1988 gold medalist Brian Boitano and the contrasting quests for gold by U.S. speed-skating stars Bon-
Landquist said his CBS colleague and analyst, 1984 gold medalist Scott Hamilton, was fed up with the furor;'
"He's very sorry that something like this has intruded in his sport, and I'm sympathetic to how he feels," Lundquist said yesterday. "But as a journalist, it's a great story."
At no point has CBS been tempted to alter its programming schedule and show the skating final live, he said. It starts at 7 p.m., but CBS won't show it until the prime-time broadcast from 8 to 11 p.m. EST.
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