FIGURE SKATING U.S. WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIPS : Yamaguchi at Her Best for First National Title

Displaying a combination of artistry and athleticism seldom seen in women’s figure skating any more, Kristi Yamaguchi finally added the U.S. women’s figure skating championship to her long list of crowns, including the one she wears as reigning world champion.

Three times a runner-up, Yamaguchi, of Fremont, Calif., was the first among the six leading contenders to skate in the freestyle program Saturday night at the Orlando Arena, and she performed with such style and strength that no one, with the possible exception of defending champion Tonya Harding of Portland, Ore., could have hoped to match her scores.

But Harding, hobbled by a strained tendon in her right foot that she suffered in practice Friday, fell on her first jump, the triple axel that she and only one other woman have landed in competition, and then struggled for the remainder of the four-minute program to finish third, behind Yamaguchi and Nancy Kerrigan of Stoneham, Mass.

Those three women will represent the United States in the Winter Olympics next month at Albertville, France, not a bad lineup considering that Yamaguchi, Harding and Kerrigan finished 1-2-3, in that order, in last year’s World Championships at Munich, Germany.

This year’s national championships also confirmed that the United States has some outstanding prospects for the 1994 Winter Olympics at Lillehammer, Norway. Lisa Ervin, 14, of Lakewood, Ohio, Tisha Walker, 17, of Thousand Oaks, and Nicole Bobek, 14, of Chicago finished among the top seven.

Ervin, runner-up in this winter’s world junior championships, might even have pressed Harding for third place if her clean, flowing program, a favorite with the crowd of 13,396, had been more technically difficult. She landed only three triple jumps.

Harding landed only two, but she went for everything, including the moon on a triple axel that ended with her body sprawled on the ice and her face twisted in pain.

But even if she had been on, she might not have been able to beat Yamaguchi. Except for one slight misstep, the only thing that went wrong with her performance came near the middle, when her hair ribbon came loose and floated to the ice.

For composition and style, she was virtually flawless. Indeed, one of the nine judges thought she was flawless, awarding her a 6.0.

“For the national championships, it’s the best I’ve ever skated,” she said.

When asked where she had skated better, her coach, Christy Ness, answered for her.

“I don’t think you have,” Ness told her. “I think this was the best.”