Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 8, 1994 TAG: 9402080098
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Following a long-held policy of having teammates train together, the International Skating Union assigned the two Americans to the same Practice Group 1 at the Hamar Olympic Amphitheatre.
"Absurd," said Kerrigan's coach, Evy Scotvold.
There aren't many definites in the Harding-Kerrigan drama because it's still unfolding, but this much is certain:
Harding will still be an Olympian when the Winter Games open this weekend. Whether she marches in the opening parade or stays on the U.S. team was not so clear Monday.
Once she gets here - perhaps accompanied by her new boyfriend - there's a room reserved for her in the Olympic Village in Hamar, Norway, site of the figure skating competition.
There's a room there, too, for Kerrigan, whose assault inside a Detroit arena last month has been linked to Harding.
Kerrigan will definitely live in the village, and wants to march in the parade of athletes when the Olympics open Saturday, Scotvold said.
There's no chance she and Harding will be roommates or even next-door neighbors.
"I don't think they will be anywhere near each other," Scotvold said. "But who knows, really?"
By late Monday, no decision had been made on whether a U.S. Olympic Committee panel would meet to decide if Harding should remain on the team. Officials said they were still waiting for key materials before making the call.
Because many people involved were traveling to Norway, it probably will be late in the week before a decision is made on whether to convene the USOC's Games Administrative Board. Travel made it almost impossible to conduct a hearing before Saturday's opening ceremonies.
"The USOC has made no decision regarding a hearing by the Games Administrative Board relative to the case surrounding Tonya Harding," USOC spokesman Mike Moran said. "We have not set any date for a gathering of this same group, nor have we discussed it."
The person who must order a hearing, USOC president LeRoy Walker, won't arrive in Lillehammer until Friday, although he could announce his decision beforehand.
A leading member of the International Olympic Committee urged the USOC to go slowly as it approached the "minefield" that has become the Harding case.
Richard Pound, an IOC executive board member from Canada, said irrevocable damage could be done to Harding and the Olympic community if the skater were banned but later found innocent of all criminal acts.
"I think it's a real minefield for them because the stakes are so big," Pound said. "If Tonya Harding doesn't make it to these Games, I guess she doesn't make it to any Olympics ever. It's a big responsibility.
"The danger is of making a mistake that can't be remedied. You can make a mistake by erring on the side of assuming that somebody's not guilty. That's a mistake for which you can be forgiven. The other one you can't."
This would be Harding's second Olympics. She finished fourth, one place behind Kerrigan, in 1992.
Last Saturday, a U.S. Figure Skating Association panel found reasonable grounds to believe Harding was involved in the plot to injure Kerrigan and knock her out of the national championships on Jan. 6.
It sent the matter to an internal disciplinary panel and gave Harding 30 days to respond. Harding's lawyers in Portland, Ore., said Monday that Harding was "concentrating on her preparation for the Olympics and working with her attorneys on a response to the request of the USFSA."
Harding would make no further statements for 72 hours, they said.
Because of the 30-day window, it's unlikely the USFSA inquiry will be finished before the Winter Olympics close.
But the Games Administration Board can act quickly, once it decides to take up the case, and has until Feb. 21 to change the women's skating lineup. That's the date of the competition draw.
Harvey Schiller, the USOC's executive director, said the 400 pages of evidence gathered by the figure skating panel were among the factors that would help decide if the USOC panel hears the Harding case. That massive amount of information was expected in Lillehammer by Wednesday, Moran said.
Memo: NOTE: Longer version ran in State edition.