SPOKANE, WASH. -- Olympic champion Alexei Yagudin reached a sad conclusion at Skate America on Saturday. The Man in the Iron Mask could fight no longer.

Tortured by a painful right hip joint, the Russian figure skater withdrew just before he was to compete in the men's long program. He's never been a quitter, but he can't argue with the serious nature of his injury. He needs to take a week to speak with other doctors and his coaches to figure out what to do about a hip socket in which bone grinds against bone, a congenital problem. It's becoming all too clear that the injury could end his skating career.

That spells bad news for Skate Canada, which will start this week in Quebec City. Asked whether he would be able to compete at the Canadian stop on the Grand Prix circuit, Yagudin said, "Probably not."

It's a blow to Canadian organizers, who were counting on his immense popularity in Canada. And Yagudin has a love affair with Canada, too. Last week, he said the city in which he would most like to live is Vancouver. Paris is next on his list. Moscow ranks fourth.

The news of Yagudin's injury is also a blow to skating in general because the 22-year-old four-time world champion is considered one of the great male skaters of his era, known for his big quadruple-jump combinations, scintillating footwork and ability to mesmerize an audience with his artistic power. He has become a regular fixture at Skate Canada.

"I am worried because it is like darkness in front of me," Yagudin said of his future. "But I really believe that I will be back. I want that and I'm sure I will be back [in competitive skating]."

Doctors told Yagudin the injury could be relieved with a cortisone shot, but that they would not recommend he ever take more than three or four. He had one in the summer, which worked well at first. He had another on Thursday, and it doesn't seem to be working very well at all. A Spokane doctor told him he could undergo surgery to rotate the socket, but without a guarantee he would ever skate again.

Over the past few days, the realization that he is in dire physical trouble has hit Yagudin hard.

Yagudin won the short program at Skate America the day after he received his second cortisone shot, but he says he was lucky. He felt only 25 per cent of the pain he feels now. When he woke up on Saturday morning, the pain "was ridiculous," he said.

He practised on Saturday morning for about 20 minutes, bailed out of a jump and quickly left the ice. "There's just so much pain when I land the jumps, like Lutz, flip and loop," he said. "Loop is the worst. I put the pressure on the other leg, but it's just messing it up. I can't control myself." He said he couldn't even do a simple sit spin.

Yagudin said he didn't decide to withdraw until he had donned his Man in the Iron Mask costume and warmed up for the long program. "I said, 'Let me get on the ice and at least try for the last time,' " he said. "But it's not like a kid's story. It's reality."

Every time he moved his leg, he was in pain. Suddenly, he skated over to referee Maria Sanaia and withdrew from the event. When he took a farewell bow, the audience gave him a standing ovation, which warmed his heart.

If he had been skating at the Olympic Games, Yagudin said, he might have tried to compete, but he didn't want to damage his hip further.

Yagudin said he has spoken to 1998 Olympic champion Tara Lipinski, who underwent surgery on her hip after she became a professional, and they realized they suffered similar pain. "She said that for four years, she didn't really take it serious," Yagudin said. "She said the operation helped her a lot. I guess the operation is the last thing I can do."

Many skaters are suffering injuries during the post-Olympic season and are dropping out of events. Not only is the competitive schedule crowded during an Olympic year, but promoters sign up skaters for long summer tours. So far, Olympic champion Sarah Hughes, world bronze medalist Timothy Goebel, Canadian dancers Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz and U.S. dancers Naomi Lang and Peter Tchernyshev have pulled out of Grand Prix events this season because of injury.

"Everyone is not in such great shape at all," Yagudin said. "It's just because the tour was so long. I had that problem before I went onto the tour . . . and it made it worse."

Young French skater Brian Joubert, who did not do the summer tour, won the men's event at Skate America in Yagudin's absence, while Alexander Abt of Russia was second and Matthew Savoie of the United States third.

Emanuel Sandhu, the Canadian champion in 2001, was sixth overall after finishing fifth in the long program. He tried a quadruple Salchow for the first time in competition, but landed it on two feet.