"After all that has occurred this season in my skating, I felt that it is time for me to move on and allow Michelle Kwan to represent the U.S. at the World Championships," Kerrigan said in a statement released by the USFSA.
Kerrigan's coach, Evy Scotvald, admitted he was relieved by Kerrigan's decision to pass up the March 22-27 competition in Japan.
"It's time for her to have some fun," he said of Kerrigan. Kerrigan said Tuesday that attention over her silver medal in the Olympics and controversy before and after the Games have made her life miserable.
"I don't have a life," Kerrigan said in an interview on the news program "Dateline NBC." "I can't go anywhere."
Minor controversies dogged her after the competition, including her absence from the Olympic closing ceremonies and taped comments while in a parade at Disney World in Florida in which she appears to find the whole event demeaning.
Boitano, for his part, said a groin injury had forced him make the decision to withdraw from the Worlds.
"I hoped to compete at the World Championships, but today I made my decision not to go," said Boitano, the 1988 Olympic gold medalist who finished sixth in Lillehammer last month.
"I am very disappointed because my heart is ready to go but my body needs more time. It was a difficult decision for me to make, but I feel that it is only fair to give this opportunity to someone physically ready to compete."
Harding's participation in Japan remained up in the air on Tuesday.
A USFSA panel has scheduled a disciplinary hearing for Thursday to decide if Harding was guilty of wrongdoing in the January attack on Kerrigan.
On Monday, Harding's attorneys filed suit in Portland, Oregon, asking for a court order to stop the USFSA hearing until a criminal investigation against her over the Kerrigan assault, and any subsequent prosecution, is complete.
Pits: Broomball Victors
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