Harding Vows Next Win Will Be on Ice : Figure skating: Victory in court clears the way for her to compete in the World Championships in Japan.

Flushed with success from a victory in the courtroom Wednesday, figure skater Tonya Harding predicted that her next one will come on the ice.

“Cool. Cool,” Harding said upon learning that she apparently will be allowed to represent the United States in the March 20-27 World Championships in Chiba, Japan.

“I’m going to win this time.”

Harding was eighth in the recent Winter Olympics, but she might not even have been there if her lawyers had not reached a settlement with the U.S. Olympic Committee after filing a $25-million lawsuit.

Their adversary Wednesday was the U.S. Figure Skating Assn., which had scheduled a disciplinary hearing to begin today in Colorado Springs, Colo., to determine whether Harding would be suspended because of code of ethics violations regarding the Jan. 6 assault on rival Nancy Kerrigan.

In a Portland, Ore., courtroom, U.S. District Judge Owen Panner issued a temporary restraining order that prohibits the USFSA from proceeding with the hearing for at least 10 days, ruling that Harding had not had enough time to prepare her defense.

The USFSA gave Harding 33 days to appear before the hearing panel after it determined last month that there were reasonable grounds to believe she was involved in the plot to injure Kerrigan. But her lawyers argued that at least 20 days were spent in preparing for other legal matters and the Winter Olympics.

Panner said that he understands the USFSA’s desire to act expeditiously, but he added that concern is outweighed by Harding’s right to adequately defend herself.

“I believe the association wants her to have a fair hearing, but I do not believe they understand the legal complications of this case,” Panner said.

He added that Harding’s “inability to properly prepare and defend her case (would) undoubtedly result in her being found guilty.”

After Panner’s ruling, lawyers for both sides met with him in chambers for two hours but could not agree upon a settlement.

The USFSA was attempting to arrange a conference call among its executive committee members Wednesday night to decide whether to appeal the ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco. If the USFSA does not appeal, the earliest it could reschedule the disciplinary hearing would be for March 19, the day after the draw for Harding’s competition in Japan.

“Because she would not be available for a hearing here when the temporary restraining order expires, it would be impossible for us to meet then even if the court allowed it,” said Bill Hybl, chairman of the USFSA’s hearing panel.

Barring further legal intervention, he said that the five members of the panel probably would not convene for another 30 to 60 days.

USOC officials expressed satisfaction that the judge addressed his objections only to the timing of the hearing and did not question the right of sports governing bodies to decide eligibility issues as established by the Amateur Sports Act of 1978.

“When there is a criminal authority, when someone’s liberty is at stake, I don’t have a problem with a ruling like this,” said Anita DeFrantz, a USOC executive committee member from Los Angeles.

“This is a different situation from our normal course of affairs. My immediate sense is that we don’t have to fix things. The system works.”