Bowman Withdraws, but Still Makes U.S. Team

Christopher Bowman of Van Nuys withdrew from the national figure skating championships Sunday because of back spasms, but the U.S. Figure Skating Assn. still named him to its team for the World Championships next month in Halifax, Canada.

Bowman, who said he was bothered by back pain throughout last week, fell twice in Friday night’s original program and finished fourth, leaving him in fourth-place overall and virtually ending his hopes of repeating as champion entering Sunday’s freestyle program.

“It was like skating with my hands handcuffed behind my back,” Bowman said.

After an examination Saturday night, Dr. Morton Rosenstein, chairman of the the USFSA’s sportsmedicine committee, diagnosed “very, very severe muscle spasms” and recommended that Bowman withdraw. His coach, Frank Carroll, gave him the same advice before Friday night’s competition, but Bowman chose to skate.

Asked why he accepted the doctor’s advice, Bowman said: “Common sense. I usually come around to it eventually.”

Bowman has suffered from chronic back problems, but Rosenstein said he believes the spasms are unrelated. He said they likely were caused by a viral infection.

As for Bowman’s prospects for recovery before the March 5-11 World Championships, Rosenstein said: “That’s somewhat difficult to predict. Hopefully, within a week or so of continuous treatment, the spasms can be broken and he can get back to full training.”

Bowman, 22, was second in the 1989 World Championships, which USFSA international committee chairman Joan Gruber said was a factor in the decision to allow him to return.

Gruber also said Sunday that the International Skating Union has delayed a decision about whether to allow the United States’ second-place pairs teams, Natasha Kuchiki of Canoga Park and Todd Sand of Thousand Oaks, to compete in the World Championships.

Kuchiki, 13, is ineligible because she is too young, but the USFSA has petitioned for a waiver of the rule.

Because his expertise is in speedskating, ISU President Olaf Poulsen of Norway told the USFSA that he would refer the issue to the chairman of the ISU’s figure skating division, Dr. Josef Dedic of Czechoslovakia. As of Sunday, the USFSA had been unable to contact Dedic.