Though the handwritten note said "You will die soon," Bernadis said he wasn't concerned at the time.

"I didn't panic," he said "The handwriting on the paper looked childish."

About the same time, Bernadis said he received two prank phone calls, with the caller simply breathed into the phone in both cases.

The French skaters have each been assigned a bodyguard during the championships, officials said, as a precaution against enthusiastic French fans and not against any specific threat.

Bernadis said his bodyguard was in the hotel but on another floor when the attack happened, reaching the skater within a minute after he telephoned for help.

Bernadis was to be questioned further by police, who are seeking a better description of the assailant. Bernadis said a forensic doctor would examine the 8-inch cut on Friday to corroborate the organizing committee physician's finding that the wound could only have been inflicted by an attacker.

The skater told reporters today that the attack happened so quickly he only managed to catch a few details: that the assailant was wearing blue jeans, a bomber jacket and big shoes - perhaps Doc Martens - and may have had on a hat or cap.

"I only saw half of him," Bernadis said. "Usually I have a look through the door first, but here there was no peephole."

Bernadis showed no obvious signs of being hampered by the injury during the final long program Wednesday night, as he and partner Sarah Abitbol finished third to win the first world medal for France since 1932.

The skater received an injection of painkiller about a half hour before going on the ice.