NOTEBOOK : Harding Is Slated to Skate Eighth in Technical Program

Tonya Harding will be the eighth of 27 women to skate in Wednesday night’s technical program.

It could have been worse.

When it came time for Gale Tanger, U.S. Figure Skating Assn. team leader, to take a number for Harding from a hat in the official draw Monday at the Olympic Amphitheatre in Hamar, the only three left were 1, 8 and 13.

Harding’s coach, Diane Rawlinson, said later she was hoping Tanger would not draw the 1.

Competitors prefer not to go on early because judges tend to reserve higher marks in case they see skaters later in the program that they like better. Brian Boitano also discovered when he skated first in the men’s technical program last week that the crowd in Hamar does not arrive until later, detracting from the atmosphere.

The other U.S. skater, Nancy Kerrigan, drew 26th. Because she finished fifth in the 1993 World Championships, she is a seeded competitor here. That automatically allowed her a more attractive starting position than Harding, who did not compete in last year’s World Championships.

Another non-seeded competitor is two-time Olympic champion Katarina Witt of Germany, who drew fourth.

Harding, who is taking anti-inflammatory medication for her sore right ankle, did not seem to be affected by the injury in two practice sessions Monday. But she still has not done a complete run-through of either her technical or freestyle programs since she arrived here last Wednesday, despite encouragement from her coach, her coach’s husband and her choreographer.

“She has a whole entourage,” said 1992 silver medalist Paul Wylie, a close friend of Kerrigan’s. “They’re clapping for every move she makes. It’s like a sixth-grade play.”

Kerrigan, meantime, practiced only once Monday, performing her long program with no significant mistakes for the first time in a week.

Although USFSA officials have repeatedly said they could not enter an alternate after Monday’s draw, International Skating Union officials have corrected them. They said Monday that if either Harding or Kerrigan has an injury that is verified by an ISU-certified doctor before the start of Wednesday night’s competition, alternate Michelle Kwan, 13, of Torrance, would be allowed to skate. Just in case, she is training in a rink near Oslo.