Reigning world and U.S. champion Tara Lipinski fell during her short program at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships and tumbled to an inconceivable fourth place. (AP Photo)

Lipinski, the reigning world and U.S. champion, finished the day in an inconceivable fourth place, trailing Michelle Kwan, Nicole Bobek and Tonia Kwiatkowski with the deciding long program scheduled for Saturday at CoreStates Center. Lipinski will retain her national title only if she wins the long program and Kwan finishes third or lower — which seems extremely unlikely considering Kwan's performance today. She earned perfect 6.0 scores for presentation from seven of nine judges.

Lipinski's fall might have been the most compelling part of the day — if not for Kwan's display of excellence in her elegant program to music by Rachmaninoff. Competing for the first time after being sidelined for two months with a fractured toe, Kwan drew two standing ovations from a crowd of 6,113. Lipinski had earned scores as low as 5.2.

Kwan's seven 6.0s were the most at the U.S. championships since Brian Boitano recorded eight in 1988. She became the first woman to earn a 6.0 for the short program at nationals. She also received two 5.9s.

When her scores flashed on the scoreboard, Kwan laughed with delight and the eyes of her coach, Frank Carroll, widened in amazement.

" 'Wow!' is what I was thinking," Kwan, 17, said. "During the program, I was just taking it step by step, but at the end, I was like: 'Now I can enjoy the moment.' I couldn't believe people were standing up. When I heard the 6.0s, I'm like, `Am I really hearing this right?' "

Lipinski felt the same sort of disbelief, only hers was tinged with sadness. She appeared with puffy, teary eyes at a brief news conference after the competition. Unlike Kwan, who had fallen several times during the week at practice, Lipinski had been executing her program without problems. By the time she got to the triple flip during today's performance, she already had nailed a triple Lutz-double toe loop combination.

"I felt very confident out there," Lipinski, 15, said. "I felt good going into the flip. I just didn't get the lift I needed. ... It wasn't a doubting mistake or a technical problem, it was just a fluke."

A fluke is not tolerated in the short program, in which judges give automatic point deductions if any of the required elements — two jumps, one jump combination, three spins and two step sequences — are omitted or improperly performed. The long program, which is worth two-thirds of the score, is more forgiving. It requires only certain basic elements and otherwise allows the skaters broad leeway.

"Right now, I'm a little disappointed with how I did," Lipinski said. "But I still feel very confident with my skating. I still feel I will do a clean long [program] and a great long."

Lipinski doesn't have to worry about making the Olympic team heading to Nagano for the Winter Games next month. It is generally agreed that Lipinski — or Kwan, the 1996 world and national champion, for that matter — could fall a half-dozen times Saturday and still be named by figure skating's international committee to one of the three spots for women. Only the first-place finisher receives an automatic bid; the other two selections are discretionary.

The fight for the third spot is really between Bobek, 20, the 1995 U.S. champion, and Kwiatkowski, 26, who will retire after this season. Bobek and Kwiatkowski are well aware that even if both finish in the top three, one likely will not make the Olympic team.

"It would be frustrating, but that's the way the sport is," Kwiatkowski said. "I'd be very upset — I'm not saying I would accept it."

Kwiatkowski performed first and executed what she believed was her best short program ever. Bobek followed soon after and excited the crowd with a lively performance to "Zorba the Greek." Neither so much as bobbled any of the three required jumps.

Kwan performed this afternoon despite having slept through her scheduled morning practice. Her father allowed her to sleep late because she had tossed and turned through the night, worrying about her first competition since Skate Canada in mid-November, when she aggravated a stress fracture in her left second toe.

"Now that it's over, I'm thinking I'm so stupid to be worried about the short program," Kwan said.

Kwan said it was one of her best performances ever in the short program. The long program, because of the emphasis on artistry, is considered her strength.

"It's not so much what she did, but the way she did it," Carroll said. "It's wonderful to look at the ease on her face, the confidence. There's a performance aura about it, not just a technical aura. It was a pleasure to watch."