SPOKANE, Wash. -- Alexei Yagudin dropped out of Skate America on Saturday night with a hip injury, and the Olympic gold medalist said he doesn't know when he'll compete again.

''I am worried, because it's just like darkness in front of me,'' he said. ''I really believe I will be back. I want that. I will be back.''

Yagudin, who turns 23 in March, said Friday he has a degenerative hip defect that could force him into early retirement. The socket in his right hip doesn't cover the bone completely, so the two rub together and cause painful irritation.

Doctors said he would have developed problems eventually, regardless if he was an athlete. But because of the pounding his body takes, it showed up earlier.

He's gotten two injections to reduce the pain, including one Thursday. But it didn't seem to have any effect, as he woke up Saturday morning and couldn't move.

He practiced for only 20 minutes Saturday morning, pain shooting through his right leg every time he moved it. He told coach Tatiana Tarasova he wanted to try and skate, but did only three triple jumps during his warmup and repeatedly shook his right leg.

At one point, he skated to her and bent over, shaking his head.

When the judges called him to perform, Yagudin skated over to the judges table and spoke to them. He then went to the middle of the rink and bowed to the fans as the announcer told the crowd Yagudin was withdrawing with an injury.

The audience gave him a standing ovation, and Yagudin turned to wave at each side of the arena. As he skated off the ice, biting his lip, he turned back one more time, blowing kisses to the crowd.

It's the first time he's had to withdraw during a competition, he said. Asked if he wondered if that might be the last time he's on the ice for a competition, Yagudin said yes.

''But I can't just stay and watch the other skaters,'' he said. ''So I'll try to do everything to be back.''

Yagudin has already seen three doctors for the problem and plans to meet with several more, including one next week. He said he probably won't be able to compete at Skate Canada next weekend.

''I don't want to damage it anymore,'' he said. ''I've damaged it enough the past two months.''

With Yagudin out, France's Brian Joubert won the men's program. Alexander Abt of Russia was second, and Matt Savoie of Peoria, Ill., was third.

Two-time U.S. champion Michael Weiss was fifth.