1994 U.S. Figure Skating Championships had 2 spots. The January 6, 1994, attack on 1993 champion and Ladies gold frontrunner Nancy Kerrigan preceded the event. The widely publicized attack took place during a practice session for the 1994 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Detroit. Tonya Harding's ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly, and her bodyguard, Shawn Eckardt, hired Shane Stant to strike Kerrigan on the knee, though Stant actually struck Kerrigan's thigh a few inches above the knee. Harding won the event, while Kerrigan's injury forced her withdrawal. After Harding admitted to helping to cover up the attack, the USFSA and United States Olympic Committee initiated proceedings to
Oksana Baiul and first in the free skate, she finished ahead of Bonaly and became world champion at age 15. In 1994, Baiul won the silver medal at the European Championships in Copenhagen, again finishing second to Bonaly. At the 1994 Winter Olympics, she was second to Nancy Kerrigan after the short program of Ladies' singles. During a practice session before the long program, she collided with Germany's Tanja Szewczenko, sustaining a wrenched lower back and a small cut on her right shin, which required three stitches. She received two Olympic-approved pain-killing injections of anesthetics in her lower back and shoulder, which