Skating Champ Died From Heart Attack -- Doctor Says Grinkov, 28, Had Enlarged Heart

LAKE PLACID, N.Y. - Figure-skating champion Sergei Grinkov died of a massive heart attack brought on by severe heart disease, the doctor who performed the autopsy said today.

The autopsy revealed that an artery that feeds a major portion of the heart muscle was virtually closed. In addition, the heart was enlarged from high blood pressure.

There was no evidence of drug or alcohol abuse, according to Dr. Francis Varga, who performed the autopsy.

Varga said the 28-year-old Grinkov had suffered an earlier heart attack within 24 hours of his death. He said Grinkov apparently had not complained of any pain.

Varga said the two-time Olympic gold medalist in pairs skating had a history of high blood pressure.

"He was clearly in very good health except for this one problem," Varga said. "This problem would not have been picked up by a routine examination. It could only have been picked up by a stress test."

Before his death, the lives of Grinkov and his skating partner and wife, Ekaterina Gordeeva, were the stuff of dreams that only seem to come true in books. They had dazzled the world of figure skating from the moment they burst onto the international scene in 1986 and won the first of four world championships.

He was 19, she was 15, and their routine was spectacular. A well-muscled 5-foot-11 man throwing a ponytailed 5-1 girl through the air, while both glided on skates at dizzying speeds.

They won Olympic gold at Calgary in 1988 and, after a stint as professionals, returned six years later to take gold again, in Norway. G&G fell in love, got married and had a daughter.

As the years passed, their skating matured with their relationship, evolving from an athletic show of muscle and speed to a husband-and-wife togetherness edged with tenderness.

Yesterday, their love story came to an abrupt end when Grinkov collapsed and died while the pair practiced for an ice show. Paramedics were on the ice within 90 seconds. They were unable to revive him.

The shock was immediate, and it cast a pall over a village that has worshipped Olympic heroes since it first hosted the Winter Games in 1932.

"It's absolutely surreal," said Don Krone, spokesman for the Olympic Regional Development Authority, which operates the rink. "It's shocked everyone."

Scott Hamilton, Kristi Yamaguchi, Paul Wylie, and the other skaters in the Stars on Ice show were there when Grinkov fell for the final time. They chose to hug, their tears saying more than any words could.

"It is a sad day for skating," said Lawrence Demmy, vice president of the International Skating Union in Davos, Switzerland. "His contribution was phenomenal. . . . There has not been a greater pair of skaters. They were also wonderful people and superb champions."

Grinkov and Gordeeva , who met as pre-schoolers at a skating club in their native Moscow, had lived the past few years in Tampa, Fla., and Simsbury, Conn.