From the archives: Nancy Kerrigan remains optimistic

This story was originally published in Newsday on January 10, 1994

Now that she officially is on the Olympic team, Nancy Kerrigan said her injured right knee, struck by a disappearing assailant at a practice rink here Thursday, "is going to tell me whether I'm capable or not" of being ready to compete in the Lillehammer Winter Games next month. When she spoke briefly to reporters early yesterday morning, two hours after the conclusion of the National Figure Skating Championships, Kerrigan was optimistic that she not only would be ready for the Olympics, but that she remains one of the gold medal favorites.

"I don't see why not," she said. "Even with a couple of weeks off, I can get back pretty easily. I'm hoping, anyway."

Forced to withdraw from the Nationals on doctors' orders after she was struck by the unknown attacker, Kerrigan, 24, was waived onto the Olympic team late Saturday night by a U.S. Figure Skating Association committee vote, based on a loophole in the USFSA qualifying procedures.

Twenty-three-year-old Tonya Harding of Portland, Ore., by winning the Nationals Saturday, gained the other Olympic berth in women's singles and Michele Kwan, the rising 13-year-old star from Los Angeles, was named the alternate after placing second.

Kwan and her coach, Frank Carroll, both declared that Kerrigan's inclusion on the team was the "right" decision. "It's really nice," Kerrigan said, "how understanding they've been." Of Kwan, Kerrigan said, "She's so young; she has time" to be a future Olympian.

There was some confusion among skating officials on an actual deadline for finalizing Kerrigan's spot on the U.S. team. Though the U.S. Olympic Committee must submit team rosters, in all the Olympic sports, to the International Olympic Committee by Jan. 31, the International Skating Union allows for the substitution of an alternate as late as the day before competition.

The Olympic Opening Ceremonies are Feb. 12, but Kerrigan's event doesn't begin until Feb. 23. U.S. Figure Skating Association officials announced that they prefer to make a final decision on whether Kerrigan is physically able to compete by Feb. 6, just before either Kerrigan - or if she can't go, Kwan - flies with the team to Norway.

By late Saturday, Kerrigan had become quickly encouraged by the healing progress of her wounded knee. "It's sore," she said, "but mostly just on the right side of the knee. The swelling's already down a lot, even from the morning to the night. When I went to therapy [Saturday afternoon], they looked surprised at how strong it was already."

Plus, she was lifted by the fact that "so many people are hoping I get better. All the mail and flowers I've gotten; it's kind of hard to imagine. I stayed in my room [Saturday] because things were still pretty crazy around the hotel, but my parents and my uncle went down to the lobby and took pictures of all the flowers to show to me. There must have been 40 bouquets, one of them as tall as my uncle."

The flowers were forwarded to local hotels, and Kerrigan left for her home in Stoneham, Mass. Today she will undergo a Magnetic Resonance Imaging test, to determine if there is any loose cartilage or pieces of bone in the knee joint, at North Shore Hospital in Boston. Her coach and choreographer, Evy and Mary Scotvold, said Kerrigan could be back on skates in a week or two.

Harding, meanwhile, acknowledged that "This can't be a complete title," not being able to compete against Nancy. "It doesn't feel quite complete. At the Olympics, it will feel complete. I'm not coming away with anything less than the gold."