Have We Seen the Last of Tonya?

In an intriguing prospect for figure skating fans but the U.S. Figure Skating Assn.’s worst nightmare, Tonya Harding is considering avenues that would allow her to return to competition.

She was handed a lifetime ban from USFSA events in 1994 for her role in the cover-up of an attack on Nancy Kerrigan, but sources said Tuesday that she is preparing to apply next month for reinstatement.

Harding’s former husband, Jeff Gillooly, and two of the couple’s associates were convicted in the assault on Kerrigan at the 1994 U.S. championships, where she suffered a knee injury that kept her out of the competition. Harding won the women’s title there and qualified for the Olympics.

Harding’s agent, David Hans Schmidt of Phoenix, would not confirm that she would be seeking reinstatement, but after conferring with Harding’s lawyer in Portland, he released a statement that said: “There will be a press conference in early April for Tonya Harding to announce her intentions for the future in figure skating. We have been entertaining offers from around the world recently for both amateur and professional projects.”

Harding told the Washington Post in an earlier interview: “O.J. Simpson has his image back. I have done everything anyone has asked of me. What I want is a chance to skate again. I want my image back.”

Even if reinstatement is granted, USFSA officials said it is unclear whether Harding, 25, could return to major amateur competition, such as the national and world championships and Olympics, because of international eligibility rules.

“We’ll deal with it if and when it comes up,” said USFSA President Morry Stillwell, who is here for this week’s World Championships.

Frank Carroll, who coaches U.S. champion Michelle Kwan at Lake Arrowhead, said he does not believe “there is a chance in hell” that Harding will regain reinstatement from the USFSA.

But if she is allowed to compete against Kwan, Carroll said, “I’d want to put Michelle in a suit of armor.”

Harding is eligible to compete in non-sanctioned professional events. Promoter Dick Button said preliminary discussions have been held with Schmidt about Harding participating in the World Professional Figure Skating Championships and the Challenge of Champions in December.

Button has not committed to inviting Harding, but said Tuesday, “I do feel on a personal level that once someone does their sentencing, they should be given a second chance at life.”

Mike Moran, director of public information and media relations for the U.S. Olympic Committee, said, “The Tonya Harding case still stands as the most controversial story in the U.S. Olympic family in the last two decades. It evoked huge emotion. It produced the most significant volume of phone and mail on any one issue in my memory.

“It also produced the largest distraction we have ever had while trying to get ready for an Olympic Games--Winter or Summer. It ranks as a low spot in USOC history of dealing with a single issue.

“I would suspect, if she does, indeed, follow through with seeking reinstatement, that we will hear immediately, and loudly, from the public on this.”

Harding’s appearance in the 1994 Winter Olympics, in which she finished eighth, contributed to record television ratings. Her return to competition would probably result in large live and TV audiences.

Convicted later in 1994 of hindering prosecution, Harding was sentenced to three years’ probation, 500 hours of community service and $160,000 in fines. She has met the final two requirements and applied for early termination of the probation, which is scheduled to end in April of 1997.

In his statement, Schmidt said, “Tonya has been practicing three hours a day and says she is happy with her new life and feels the best she ever has about her skating, and added that she looks forward to competition.”

Harding, remarried in December, is training in Portland with her former coach, Dody Teachman. Harding has not competed since the 1994 Olympics or appeared in exhibitions for money.

“She’s been the sweet Tonya that Tonya can be,” said Teachman, who has been coaching Harding since January.

“She can jump. She’s a trick skater. Can she make it through a four-minute program? I don’t know. But if she can keep her nose clean, I hope for her career she can do something with it.”

Times Sports Editor Bill Dwyre contributed to this story from Los Angeles.