Kerrigan Case: a Bizarre Twist : Figure skating: FBI probe focuses on husband and bodyguard of competitor Tonya Harding.

In a bizarre twist to the Nancy Kerrigan attack, federal authorities Wednesday focused on allegations involving the husband and bodyguard of Tonya Harding, the U.S. national figure skating champion.

Harding, from Portland, Ore., abruptly canceled an appearance in Fairfax, Va., today; and Dewey Blanton, a spokesman for Kerrigan, said the FBI told the skater’s family there is an impending development.

Detroit police called a news conference, then kept reporters waiting throughout Wednesday night. Authorities had planned to intercept Harding’s husband, Jeff Gillooly, and her bodyguard, Shawn Eric Eckardt, en route to Virginia, at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport, then make an announcement, sources said. When the skater and the two men failed to show, FBI agents in Oregon were asked to help find them, sources said.

Kerrigan, 24, of Stoneham, Mass., was struck on the knee with a blunt instrument by an unknown assailant after practice last Thursday at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Detroit. The assailant severely bruised Kerrigan’s right leg, forcing her to withdraw from the competition. The man escaped by fleeing past reporters and Kerrigan’s family members, then breaking through a door window at Cobo Arena.

The International Committee of the U.S. Figure Skating Assn. selected Kerrigan to the Olympics team despite missing the trials, along with Harding, who won the U.S. championship in Detroit. The Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, are scheduled for Feb. 12-27.

Although it was first thought to be the act of a crazed fan, reports surfaced Monday night that the FBI was investigating the possibility that Harding’s husband and bodyguard were involved in arranging the attack.

A Portland minister went to the FBI after hearing a tape recording in which the two men allegedly spoke with a “hit man” from Arizona about attacking Kerrigan, the Portland Oregonian reported Wednesday.

Gillooly acknowledged that he was interviewed by the FBI earlier this week but denied the charges.

“That’s illegal,” he told the Oregonian. “I wouldn’t do that. I have more faith in my wife than to bump off her competition.”

Eckardt called the allegations absurd.

“You know, I would never get involved in anything like that,” he said. “I mean, that’s not something I could do or allow.”

Harding, 23, has denied any link to the attack, saying she felt cheated of the chance to compete against Kerrigan.

“It won’t be a true crown until I face Nancy, and that will be at the Olympics,” Harding told reporters. “And let me tell you, I’m going to whip her butt.

“I can’t believe it. I mean, why does someone want to discredit me. I just don’t understand. It’s ludicrous.”

Harding reportedly was the target of a death threat last fall that prevented her from competing at the Northwest Pacific Championships in Portland.

She also has had marital problems with Gillooly, 26, who works in a state Liquor Control Commission warehouse. The couple, married in 1990, started divorce proceedings last summer, then reconciled.

Last March, Harding filed a report with Clackamas County Sheriff’s Department, accusing Gillooly of assault. No arrest was made, officials said.

In a petition for a restraining order against Gillooly, filed two days after the divorce petition, Harding claimed he had wrenched her arm and wrist, pulled her hair and shoved her.