Grinkov had heart disease

Ice skating

Sergei Grinkov, the Olympic figure skating champion, died of a massive heart attack brought on by severe heart disease, an autopsy said yesterday.

The autopsy revealed that Grinkov's left anterior defending coronary artery, which feeds a major portion of the heart muscle, was virtually closed. In addition, the heart was enlarged from high blood pressure, the autopsy said.

There was no evidence of drug or alcohol abuse, according to Dr Francis Varga, who performed the autopsy at Adirondack Medical Center in Saranac Lake, New York.

Grinkov collapsed and died on Monday attempting to lift his wife Ekaterina Gordeeva, 24, while practising at Lake Placid.

Obituary, page 20