Bowman on probation for theft at time of death
Former US figure skating champion admitted cocaine addiction
 Chris Cole / Getty Images file Christopher Bowman in action during the 1992 Winter Olympics. Bowman died Thursday. He was 40. |
LOS ANGELES - Christopher Bowman soared to the heights as U.S. figure skating champion. He crashed off the ice, though, ending up dead on the floor of a cheap motel room 1½ months after being arrested for misdemeanor theft.
The 40-year-old skater’s death initially was reported as a possible drug overdose, but “we don’t have anything that points specifically” to that as the cause, assistant chief Ed Winter of the coroner’s office said Friday.
Investigators also were considering Bowman’s death Thursday was the result of an accident or natural causes. The two-time Olympian was 6 feet and weighed an estimated 300 pounds.
“There was some prescription medication present” at the scene but no evidence of illegal drugs, Winter said.
He didn’t know the type or quantity of medication found.
An autopsy on Bowman was to be done this weekend.
He battled drug problems, and underwent treatment at least twice — once before the 1988 Olympics and then again after the Albertville Games in 1992. He was an admitted cocaine addict.
The skater was alternately nicknamed “Bowman the Showman” for his flair on the ice and “Hans Brinker from Hell” for his hard partying and lack of discipline in training.
Bowman was one of figure skating’s biggest personalities in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Immensely talented, with a gift for performance that few others could match, he won U.S. national titles in 1989 and 1992, and was runner-up in 1987 and 1991.
He also won a silver medal at the 1989 world championships, and a bronze the next year. He was seventh at the 1988 Winter Olympics and finished fourth in the 1992 Games.
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Carlos Osorio / AP FILE Bowman looks towards District Judge Nancy Carniak during a sentencing hearing in Rochester Hills, Mich. in this Jan. 19, 2005 file photo. |
Bowman and his friend spent the night in the motel. The friend told police that he awoke the next morning to find Bowman on the floor not breathing, Houser said. He called 911 and paramedics pronounced Bowman dead at the scene shortly after noon Thursday.
Houser said there was no evidence of foul play or illegal narcotics in the room.
“Everything seemed to be in order,” he said. “There was no indication that there was anything criminal. There wasn’t any indication there that there was drug use going on.”
The two-story stucco motel along one of the busiest streets in the Valley is one of a half-dozen budget motels in the area, located across from an indoor swap meet, gas station and Hispanic supermarket. Historically, the area has been frequented by gangs and prostitutes.
The motel manager, who declined to give his name, would only say he knew Bowman because the skater had been there before.
Houser said Bowman’s unidentified friend was distraught at the scene and he cooperated with police.
Bowman had a criminal history and was on probation at the time of his death.
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According to court documents, Bowman was in possession of aluminum siding and pipes that belonged to the city of Los Angeles.
He pleaded no contest and was sentenced Dec. 14 to seven days in county jail, two years’ probation and 15 days of graffiti removal with a highway crew.
In 2005 in Michigan, he was sentenced to 18 months’ probation for misdemeanor involving having a gun while drunk.
In 1993, while skating with the Ice Capades, he was beaten at a hotel in a seedy neighborhood in Pittsburgh, according to a police report.
Born in Hollywood on March 30, 1967, Bowman got into coaching after retiring from skating in 1992, and the Detroit Free Press said he had lived in the Detroit area from 1995 until last February.
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