FIGURE SKATING U.S. CHAMPIONSHIPS : Bowman Suffers Back Spasms, Takes a Fall

Christopher Bowman, who calls himself Hans Brinker from hell, spent a night there Friday. He suffered back spasms before going onto the ice and then skated one of the poorest performances of his career to virtually eliminate himself from contention in the national figure skating championships.

Bowman, the defending champion and runner-up in the 1989 World Championships, fell once, failed to complete his required combination jumps and then almost fell again.

Only the generosity of the judges, who scored him high for his presentation, enabled him to finish as high as fourth in the original program, which is where he remained in the overall standings entering Sunday’s freestyle competition.

Dr. David Howe, medical director for the championships, treated Bowman for the recurring back spasms both before and after the performance.

“It’s a treatable problem,” Howe said, indicating that Bowman could compete Sunday.

The prognosis for his title hopes is less optimistic. For Bowman, from Van Nuys, to win, catastrophe would have to strike the three skaters who are ahead of him. Considering their performances Friday night at the Salt Palace, that is highly unlikely.

Todd Eldredge, an 18-year-old former world junior champion who is from South Chatham, Mass., but has trained in San Diego for the last two years, added a victory in the original program to one Thursday in the compulsory figures to take a commanding lead.

But a Salt Palace crowd of 8,479 gave its first standing ovation of the week to Paul Wylie, a 1988 Olympian and Harvard undergraduate, who finished second in the original program and improved from third to second in the overall standings. Mark Mitchell of Hamden, Conn., is third.

Wylie, 25, also received the first perfect 6.0 scores of the week, both for his stylish presentation. It was a significant improvement over last year, when he entered the championships as a co-favorite along with Bowman but finished third.

“I learned last year that nobody owes you a living in the sport,” Wylie said. “You must go out there and make it happen every day. I trained ad nauseum, and it worked.”

This year, it was Bowman’s turn to take the fall.

“It went through my head: ‘The door is open; if you don’t walk through it, you’re dumber than anybody,’ ” Wylie said of his reaction when Bowman had his problems. “It didn’t take any pressure off. I said, ‘You’ve got to put yourself on the line and do it.’ The short program is like the final putt. Everything is on the line.

“It’s a tough sport. You hate to see somebody like Chris go down. He’s a great skater. But, at the same time, that’s part of it.”

The United States has had three consecutive four-time men’s champions, Charlie Tickner, Scott Hamilton and Brian Boitano. Bowman is not likely to add his name to that list.

“That makes it strange,” Wylie said. “Past nationals have always been more of a coronation.”

The king is injured; long live the king. Or perhaps it is more appropriate to call Bowman the chief. A flamboyant skater, he dressed Friday night in an American Indian costume, including a headband that, as one U.S. Figure Skating Assn. official said, “makes him look like Tonto.”

Bowman, 22, has received as much attention for his off-the-ice adventures as for his performances, but he has proved himself as one of the world’s best skaters. If he does not finish among the top three here, however, the USFSA will have to decide whether to still send him to the World Championships next month in Halifax, Canada.