PORTLAND, Oregon -- A federal judge has temporarily barred the U.S. Figure Skating Association from holding a hearing into Tonya Harding's alleged involvement in a Jan. 6 attack on rival skater Nancy Kerrigan.


The decision Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Owen Panner would probably leave Harding, the U.S. national champion, free to compete in the World Figure Skating Championships in Japan on March 22.


The disciplinary hearing had been scheduled for Thursday.


Kerrigan, who won a silver medal in the Lillehammer Winter Olympics last month, will not take part in the world championships. Harding finished eighth in the Games.


After the hearing, Panner ordered lawyers for both sides to meet in his chambers to agree on a date when a USFSA hearing could take place.


The lawyers later adjourned their talks without agreeing on a date.


Panner, in issuing a temporary restraining order against the USFSA, said Harding had not been given enough time by the association to present an adequate defense to allegations that she either was part of the plot to carry out the attack or knew about and did not report it.


Harding filed suit against the USFSA on Monday, asking for a court order blocking the disciplinary hearing, and for unspecified damages. Panner said he would not award damages.


Harding, who attended Tuesday's hearing in the case, was not in court Wednesday. Instead, she was on the practice rink.


She was told of the judge's ruling after her practice and said: "Cool. Cool. I'm glad."


"I'm going to win this time," she added in reference to the world championships.


Panner noted that the USFSA did not give formal notice of Thursday's hearing until March 5, and did not give Harding's attorneys all the evidence it had gathered until March 8.


"The documents are replete with hearsay, media clips, anonymous letters, bank records," the judge said, noting that the association's rules allow materials to be presented that would not be allowed in a court of law.


"I'm not sure they realize the volume of material. I'm not sure that any attorney ... could possibly present any kind of a defense in the time permitted," Panner added.


He said that based on the record as it now stands, and without the opportunity to prepare an adequate defense, it was probable that USFSA would determine that she was guilty and would take some sanctions against her.


The association can bar Harding from all competitive skating.


Prosecutors in Portland are also investigating allegations that Harding was involved in plotting the attack on Kerrigan, who was hit on the leg with a metal bar during the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Detroit.


Harding has not been charged and says she is innocent.