FIGURE SKATING : This Show Belongs to Ukraine

The only international figure skating competition in the United States this winter, Skate America was expected to serve as a confidence-builder for U.S. skaters as they embark upon a season that will climax with next February’s Winter Olympics in Norway.

Instead, they left Reunion Arena Saturday night searching for bandages for their bodies, psyches and even footwear and wondering if perhaps the name of this event should not have been changed to Skate Ukraine.

A heavy favorite in the men’s competition, the 1988 Olympic champion, Brian Boitano, failed to win in his return to the so-called amateur ranks. The most accomplished U.S. woman here, Tonya Harding, appeared as if she would win before a blade on her boot came loose.

The national dance champions, Renee Roca and Gorsha Sur, crashed into the wall, and one of their counterparts, Peter Breen, went to the hospital with a torn tendon after grabbing for partner Rachel Mayer’s hand and getting a blade instead.

Meantime, Ukrainians Viktor Petrenko and Oksana Baiul were gliding away with the gold medals in the individual events, and French dancers Sophie Moniotte and Pascal Lavanchy won their competition. Add those to the victory by the Russian pairs team of Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov Friday night, and it is guaranteed that the Reunion Arena’s recording of “The Star Spangled Banner” still doesn’t have a scratch on it.

But if the figure skating fans here did not get to see any Americans on the top level of the victory stand, they could at least console themselves with the thought that they witnessed a remarkable men’s competition Saturday afternoon, particularly for October.

Boitano, who spent more than five years off the Olympic track while competing and touring professionally, skated well enough to win during his freestyle program Saturday afternoon. But Petrenko, the 1992 Olympic champion, skated better, if only slightly as indicated by the 4-3 vote in his favor by the panel of international judges.

“Of course, there’s disappointment,” Boitano said. “But I feel good about myself, and that’s the most important thing at this point of the game.”

Petrenko said it is too early in the season to get excited. But as soon as he got on the bus that carried him back to the hotel afterward, he let out a whoop that could be heard back home in Odessa.

The people there will not be surprised to learn that his rink mate, Baiul, won. But she had a perplexing week in her first competition since winning the world championship as a 15-year-old last winter, even changing the spelling of her last name before deciding she liked it better the old way.

Most of her difficulties, however, were on the ice. After finishing second in the technical program Friday night, she was hardly impressive in her freestyle skate 24 hours later, falling twice.

But she won because runner-up Surya Bonaly of France reverted to her old style, which is no style at all, and third-place Harding never regained her composure after interrupting her program to repair her blade.