Nov. 6, 1999 11:07 PM AP

SAINT JOHN, New Brunswick (AP) Alexei Yagudin just might be vulnerable after all.

The Russian teenager, who had established an aura of invincibility in winning eight of his previous 10 international events including the 1998 and 1999 world championships, looked merely ordinary at Skate Canada on Saturday night.

He fell twice. It wasn't enough to deny him the win and $30,000, much to the disappointment of the partisan crowd, which booed the decision.

"I was really disappointed with my skating," Yagudin said afterwards. "I made a couple of mistakes. This is not usual for me. But sometimes I miss elements. I am not a robot."

Canadian Elvis Stojko, second going into the free-skating final, would have won gold had he skated cleanly. But Stojko fell, too, on a triple Axel attempt.

Stojko, 27, wound up with the silver medal and $18,000. More important, he realized in watching Yagudin, 19, struggle that his own quest to win a fourth world title is not as far-fetched as some critics suggest.

"Anybody is beatable," Stojko said. "I've always known that. Just like Alexei said, we're only human."

There were no quads landed. Yagudin, Stojko and Chenjiang Li of China had all landed one in the short program Thursday. Yagudin and Li both fell on their attempts at four-revolution jumps Saturday, while Stojko stepped out of his on the landing.

The finale certainly was a letdown.

Rising Japanese star Takeshi Honda, 18, grabbed third place and $10,000 with the best 4½ minutes of skating. He fell, too, but his overall effort surpassed that of the others. Having been fifth in the short, he was too far behind to overtake Yagudin and Stojko.

American veteran Todd Eldredge, 28, held onto fourth spot, and Li, 21, fell to fourth after sitting third following the short.

Earlier, Margarita Drobiazko and Povilas Vanagas, Lithuanian ice dance champions for the last nine years, finally won one on the road.

Drobiazko, 27, and Vanagas, 29, earned $30,000, and took home gold medals for the first time in 28 international events.

"We were expecting to be fighting for gold and we are very glad to be successful," Vanagas said.

Drobiazko is Russian and trains with Vanagas mainly in Moscow with coach Elena Tchaikovskaya.

Ukrainians Elena Grushina, 24, and Ruslan Goncharov, 26, who train in Delaware, won silver and $18,000.

Isabelle Delobel, 21, and Olivier Schoenfelder, 21, of France won bronze and $10,000.

The four-day Skate Canada, the second of six in the International Skating Union's Grand Prix series, ends Sunday with the women's singles final and a gala exhibition.