Harding Won’t Quit

Tonya Harding’s agent said he was near a decision on asking the U.S. Figure Skating Association to rescind the lifetime ban imposed for the two-time Olympian’s part in covering up the attack on rival Nancy Kerrigan three years ago.

If the ban sticks, agent David Hans Schmidt said, Harding - scheduled to resume her skating career as a professional next month - was prepared to jump to another country for the chance to compete in next year’s Winter Olympics at Nagano.

Irina Slutskaya of Russia shook off some recent sub-par performances to take the lead today after the women’s short program at the European Figure Skating championships in Paris.