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Oksana Grishuk, who skated for Russia and won Olympic gold in 1994 and 1998 with ice dance partner Evgeny Platov, tells PEOPLE she was having a dinner meeting last month with a business acquaintance she had known for two years at the St. Regis Resort, Monarch Beach, in Dana Point, Calif., to discuss developing a vitamin and nutrition line.
She says she started feeling lightheaded over dinner after drinking from the second of two glasses of alcohol that police investigators later told her had been laced with "a common date-rape drug."
"I felt my body having the shakes, I was feeling cold and my lips felt numb and there was a burning sensation in my chest," she says.
Paramedics were called to the scene and rushed her to a nearby hospital where Grishuk, 36, was treated and released.
Grishuk declined to identify the acquaintance, described by investigators as "a person of interest." He had left the hotel before Grishuk went to the hospital.
Arrest May Be Imminent
Investigators have questioned the acquaintance but have not made an arrest – though they may make an arrest soon, says Orange County Sheriff's spokesman Jim Amorino said Wednesday."We are awaiting the toxicology reports but expect to submit our case to the D.A. ... for the possible filing of criminal charges," he says. "I'm confident we'll determine who did it and we'll make an arrest."
Police found residue on the first glass and collected the pill from the second drink, and preliminary reports indicate that both glasses were drugged, Amorino said. Police also are testing Grishuk's blood.
She had the first drink in the hotel lounge, and it was after finishing her second drink, a glass of red wine, in the restaurant, that she noticed a small pill at the bottom and alertly notified the manager. Police have ruled out that any hotel employee was involved in the incident.
A Warning to Other Women
Grishuk says she first suspected something was wrong when she noticed her glass of red wine turning cloudy. "He kept pushing me to drink," she said of the acquaintance. "But I'm not a drinker. It was a meeting and I wanted to stay alert."Grishuk wants to alert other women to the danger of date rape drugs and warned it could happen to anyone at anytime, she says.
"I was very lucky," she says. "I was in a public bar and restaurant and never left my drink," she says, thinking she must have been drugged while looking away from the table. "That's very scary. Always keep an eye on your glass."
Grishuk makes her home in Orange County. In addition to raising her 5-year-old daughter Skyler from a previous relationship, Grishuk has spent parts of the rest the past two years starring in the Russian TV show, Dance on Ice, skating with Russian actors and personalities. She's also performing exhibitions in Europe and Japan with skating partner Platov and dating a Laguna Beach Web site designer.
"I'm trying to hang in there," she says. "I'm hoping I can donate money from my skating shows to charities to help women victims of date rape."
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