Babilonia Treated for ‘Overdose’

Tai Babilonia, a former Olympic figure skater, was hospitalized Wednesday after she apparently took an overdose of pills.

Babilonia, 28, who lives in Los Angeles, was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where she was treated and released, said Paula Correia, a hospital spokeswoman. Correia would not say what kind of pills Babilonia had taken.

According to Bill Frio of the Los Angeles Police Department, Babilonia called her manager, Nancy Rosenberg, and said that she had taken some pills because she was despondent over recent skating performances.

“We have to take an injury report in any situation like this, but we are treating this as an accidental overdose,” Frio said.

Babilonia’s mother was notified, and she called paramedics, who took the skater to the hospital.

Michael Levine, Babilonia’s publicist, said: “She was treated for severe stomach cramps due to reaction of a non-prescription medication. I was one of two people that saw her. She looked like she had gone two rounds with Mike Tyson.”

Levine disputed the police report about the skater’s conversation with her manager.

“Yes, her manager spoke to her this morning, but it was a very routine conversation,” Levine said. “The cops aren’t infallible. They make mistakes.”

Babilonia and Randy Gardner, her skating partner, won the pairs title in the World Championships at Vienna, Austria, in 1979 and were favored to win a gold medal at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, N.Y. They were forced to withdraw from the competition, however, when Gardner suffered a groin injury.

They turned professional after those Games and skated in the Ice Capades until 1983. Babilonia has recently been skating as a single.