Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 8, 1994 TAG: 9401080065
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: DETROIT LENGTH: Medium
The 24-year-old defending champion was told by doctors she risked further injury to her severely bruised right knee if she skated at the national championships, which serve as a qualifier for the Olympics in February.
"I really want to skate," Kerrigan said at a news conference, "but the doctors said I shouldn't.
"I kept crying. I was upset, hurt, angry. I really wanted to skate. I've been skating so well and I wanted to go out and show everyone I didn't lose it. I'm skating better than ever and I wanted to do it for myself."
Although unable to compete for one of two spots on the U.S. Olympic team, Kerrigan still could be chosen for the Games in Lillehammer, Norway, as a special selection.
Kerrigan, a 1992 Olympic bronze medalist who slumped after winning her first U.S. title in January 1993, had finished practice Thursday at Cobo Arena when she was attacked by a man with a club or metal bar.
"I was coming off the ice and went through curtains and was walking away from the ice when I heard something behind me," she said. "I turned and saw somebody running behind me and he whacked me with a long black stick and it was really hard, and he kept running."
Police gave conflicting information about the description of the attacker. The first reports Thursday described him as a 6-foot white man wearing a black jacket, black shirt, black hat and white or tan pants. On Friday, deputy chief Benny Napoleon described him as a "light-complexioned black man," but a police public information office spokesman said they were sticking with the original description.
Napoleon said police were developing a composite sketch of the assailant and were pursuing several leads.
Kerrigan said Friday she had received two letters from a man who lived in Ontario, across the river from Detroit, but that they were not threatening.
"There was nothing bad," she said. "It was a fan that was very complimentary about my figure and me as a person and my skating."
Kerrigan said she didn't respond.
Kerrigan was to compete in the technical program Friday night and the free skate today. She was considered one of the favorites for the gold medal at the Winter Olympics.
The decision to withdraw was made after Kerrigan could not perform a simple hopping exercise. Doctors had drained blood from her injured knee Friday morning.
"I'm OK," she said, when asked how she was dealing with the incident. "I'm pretty upset and angry that someone would do this.
"Certainly, I'd like them to catch him so he isn't able to do this again or to anyone else."
Claire Ferguson, president of the U.S. Figure Skating Association, hinted strongly that Kerrigan would be placed on the U.S. Olympic team. The association's international committee is empowered to do so.
"No spot is reserved for anyone until after the competition," said Ferguson, who spoke to the female competitors and their coaches before the technical program Friday. "I reminded them of the rules. They're veteran coaches and have been through this before."
The association went through a similar situation in 1992 with national champion Todd Eldredge, who withdrew from the U.S. championships because of a back injury. Eldredge was placed on the Olympic team instead of Mark Mitchell, but was not in competitive shape and finished 10th in Albertville, France.
Ferguson wasn't concerned that Kerrigan might not be ready to compete in Lillehammer.
"When you have this type of situation, it's tightly tied to the medical staff and the family and the coach and the skater and we would allow that decision [to compete] to be made by them," she said. "I can't see professional coaches such as Evy and Mary [Scotvold] allowing her to do something if she isn't ready."
Evy Scotvold complained about the lack of security in the area when Kerrigan completed her workout.
Brenda Kerrigan, Nancy's mother, who is legally blind and watches her daughter compete by sitting inches from a TV, tearfully wondered aloud how the attack could have happened.
by CNB