Richard Fukumoto, chief pathologist at the Orange County coroner's office, said the seizure was caused by a brain abnormality known as cavernous angioma and he knew of no connection between that condition and the use of steroids.

Griffith Joyner, who won three gold medals at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, died suddenly in her sleep on September 21 at the age of 38 at her home in Mission Viejo, California.

Her death renewed the speculation that had dogged her during her athletic career that her amazing speed had been achieved by the use of performance-enhancing steroids that had ultimately damaged her heart. But the autopsy results were likely to quell such speculation.

``My wife took a final, ultimate drug test and there was nothing there,'' her husband, AlJoyner, said after the results were released. ``So, please, give us time to grieve. Just let my wife rest in peace.''

Fukumoto told a news conference: ``I did not find any abnormalities in the heart other than that she had an athlete's heart. There was no arterial sclerosis.''

He said the official cause of death was `positional asphyxiation or an obstruction of the airways due to the positioning of her head,' as she was face down on her pillow at the time of her death.

``She essentially, in layman's terms, suffocated to her death in her sleep,'' Fukumoto said. The pathologist added that the only drugs found in her body were Tylenol, a painkiller, and Benadryl, a cold medication.

There was no alcohol in her body, the autopsy showed.