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
Tonya Harding not for the scandal. The media frenzy continued on February 17, when Nancy Kerrigan and Harding shared the ice at a practice session in the Hamar Olympic Amphitheatre. Approximately 400 members of the press were there to document this practice. Scott Hamilton believed the sport was depicted as a "tabloid event." It was noted that Nancy Kerrigan chose to wear the same skating costume at the practice session that she was wearing on January 6. Kerrigan later confirmed that her choice of dress that day was deliberate: "Humour is good, it's empowering." The tape-delayed broadcast of the February 23 Ladies'