The 1994 U.S. Figure Skating Championships were held at the

Joe Louis Arena Joe Louis Arena was an arena in Downtown Detroit. Completed in 1979 at a cost of US$57 million as a replacement for Olympia Stadium, it sat adjacent to Cobo Center on the bank of the Detroit River and was accessible by the Joe Louis Arena ...

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

. Medals were awarded in four colors: gold (first), silver (second), bronze (third), and pewter (fourth) in four disciplines – men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and

ice dancing Ice dance (sometimes referred to as ice dancing) is a discipline of figure skating that historically draws from ballroom dancing. It joined the World Figure Skating Championships in 1952, and became a Winter Olympic Games medal sport in 1976. A ...

– across three levels: senior, junior, and novice. The event was used to determine the U.S. teams for the

1994 Winter Olympics The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games ( no, De 17. olympiske vinterleker; nn, Dei 17. olympiske vinterleikane) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, was an international winter multi-sport event held fro ...

and the 1994 World Championships. The competition was famous for the return of previous Olympians

Brian Boitano Brian Anthony Boitano (born October 22, 1963) is an American figure skater from Sunnyvale, California. He is the 1988 Olympic champion, the 1986 and 1988 World Champion, and the 1985–1988 U.S. National Champion. He turned professional foll ...

and

Elaine Zayak Elaine Kathryn Zayak (born April 4, 1965) is an American former figure skater. She is the 1982 World champion and 1981 U.S. national champion. She competed at the 1984 Winter Olympics, placing 6th. Personal life Zayak was born and raised in ...

, as well as the pre-competition attack on Nancy Kerrigan by associates of skater

Tonya Harding Tonya Maxene Price (née Harding; born November 12, 1970) is an American former figure skater, retired boxer and a reality television personality. Born in Portland, Oregon, Harding was raised primarily by her mother, who enrolled her in ice sk ...

. Harding subsequently was stripped of her ladies' championship title after she pleaded guilty to failing to report the assault to the police after the fact, although she maintains that she had no knowledge of the attack beforehand.

Medalists

Senior

In June 1994, U.S. Figure Skating voted to no longer recognize

's 1994 win. The gold medal position was left vacant; the other competitors did not move up one position.

Junior

Novice

Senior results

Men

Ladies

Pairs

Ice dancing

Junior results

Men

Ladies

Pairs

Ice dancing

Reinstatement of professionals to amateur status

Amateurs who turned professional had been banned from returning to compete as amateurs. This ban was removed and

and

sought to compete in order to go to the 1994 Winter Olympics. Having retired from competitive skating after winning Olympic gold in 1988 and the 1988 World Championships, four time men's champion Brian Boitano announced a comeback and would compete to get a place on the 1994 Olympic team. This was highly controversial as he had skated professionally for many years and fought to get former professionals reinstated for amateur competitions. He placed second behind Scott Davis and made the Olympic team as the United States had 2 spots.

Kerrigan–Harding controversy

The January 6, 1994, attack on 1993 champion and Ladies gold frontrunner

Nancy Kerrigan Nancy Ann Kerrigan (born October 13, 1969) is an American figure skater and actress. She won bronze medals at the 1991 World Championships and the 1992 Winter Olympics, silver medals at the 1992 World Championships and the 1994 Winter Olympic ...

preceded the event. The widely publicized attack took place during a practice session for the 1994 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Detroit.

'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 The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is the National Olympic Committee and the National Paralympic Committee for the United States. It was founded in 1895 as the United States Olympic Committee, and is headquartered in Col ...

initiated proceedings to remove her from the 1994 Olympic team, but Harding retained her place after threatening legal action. She finished eighth in the 1994 Winter Olympics in

Lillehammer, Norway Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the municip ...

, while Kerrigan, who recovered from her injuries, finished second.

Collision

During a warm-up, ice dancer

Renée Roca Renée Roca (born May 18, 1963) is an American ice dancer and choreographer. She is a three-time U.S. national champion with different partners. Competing with partner Donald Adair, she is the 1986 U.S. national champion. She later teamed up wi ...

was skating backward and collided with the team of Galit Chait and Maksim Sevostyanov, fracturing a bone in her left arm. Two hours later, she returned from the hospital with her arm in a cast and decided to try to compete. She and partner

Gorsha Sur Georgi "Gorsha" Sur (born January 1, 1967) is a former ice dancer who represented the United States and the Soviet Union. With Svetlana Liapina for the Soviet Union, he is a two-time World Junior medalist. With Renée Roca for the U.S., he is a ...

placed second in the rhumba, however, Roca was unable to secure a firm grip with her left hand, and had to withdraw from the rest of the competition.

References

External links

men's and ladies' results
{{United States Figure Skating Championships U.S. Figure Skating Championships Sports competitions in Detroit United States Figure Skating Championships, 1994 United States Figure Skating Championships, 1994 January 1994 sports events in the United States 1994 in sports in Michigan 1994 in Detroit