Tonya Harding's bodyguard told investigators that he and Harding's husband set up the attack that nearly knocked rival figure skater Nancy Kerrigan out of the Olympics, news reports say.
Bodyguard Shawn Eric Eckardt said Harding's husband, Jeff Gillooly, asked him to arrange the Jan. 6 attack, in which Kerrigan was clubbed in the knee, The Oregonian newspaper reported, citing unidentified law enforcement sources.
By early Thursday, no arrests had been made.
Authorities said there was no indication that Harding helped plan the attack or had any knowledge of it, according to The Oregonian and NBC.
Harvey Schiller, executive director of the U.S. Olympic Committee, said Harding's participation in the Winter Games shouldn't be affected.
"There's no indication that Tonya's involved at all, and our goal is to make her as competitive as possible for the games in Lillehammer," Schiller said Thursday on NBC's "Today."
Schiller was reluctant to discuss the latest reports on the Kerrigan attack, saying they remained "speculative."
The investigation spread to three states as authorities in Oregon, Michigan and Arizona pieced together the story of the attack, which was apparently aimed at ruining Kerrigan's chance to compete in last week's U.S. Figure Skating Championships, the qualifying trials for the Olympics next month in Lillehammer, Norway.
The scheme allegedly involved Eckardt, Gillooly, an Eckardt acquaintance in Phoenix and a Portland man who attacked Kerrigan for $100,000, The Oregonian reported.
NBC quoted sources as saying that after the men met in Portland, the hit man went to Boston, where Kerrigan lives and trains. It was there the investigators believe he planned to attack Kerrigan, but bad weather somehow foiled the attempt, NBC said.
Later in Detroit, a man brandishing a club struck Kerrigan after a practice session at the U.S. championships, severely bruising her right leg and forcing her to withdraw from the competition. The attacker escaped after breaking the glass out of a locked arena door.
The U.S. Figure Skating Association named Kerrigan to the Olympic team anyway, along with Harding, who won the U.S. championship two days after the attack.
Gillooly said Tuesday he had been questioned by the FBI but denied any involvement. "I wouldn't do that," he said. "I have more faith in my wife than to bump off her competition."
Asked by reporters Wednesday if she had anything to do with the attack, Harding, 23, said, "You guys know me better than that. I had my hopes for a long time of competing against Nancy and proving I'm as good as her and better."
Earlier, Eckardt called allegations that he was involved "absurd."
Harding was scheduled to fly to Fairfax, Va., on Wednesday for a skating exhibition but abruptly canceled.
A private investigator in Portland, Gary Crowe, told The Associated Press that the FBI learned of the alleged plot from a local minister, Eugene Saunders.
Crowe said Saunders came to him for advice after speaking with a friend who played him a tape recording of men alleged to be Gillooly, Eckardt and the unidentified Arizona man discussing Kerrigan.
Crowe said Saunders told him a man's voice on the tape asked, "Why don't we just kill her?" The response was: "We don't need to kill her. Let's just hit her in the knee."
Crowe said Saunders' friend became worried after receiving threats from the Arizona man because Gillooly had failed to pay $100,000 as promised.
NBC quoted its sources as saying the tape was destroyed by one of the suspects after news reports appeared Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Detroit police said they had recovered a black metal baton, believed to be the weapon. A Detroit resident found it in a trash can behind the ice rink, the Detroit Free Press said, quoting unidentified sources.
In Portland, meanwhile, another man, Russell "Rusty" Reitz, told The Oregonian that two days before the attack, Eckardt asked him if he'd be willing to kill someone for $65,000. Reitz said he declined.
"He said, `Would you break somebody's leg?' I said, `Well, I don't know, Shawn, I'm not that way.' And he says, `Well, I got a job in Detroit. I'm going to send a team there,'" Reitz told The Oregonian.
Meanwhile, an FBI spokesman says rumors are running rampant in the assault inquiry, hampering the investigation and eroding the chances of quick arrests.
FBI spokesman Hank Glaspie of the bureau's Detroit office said the process of gathering evidencs has been stifled and says it is unlikely any arrests are imminent.