Oksana Kostina

Oksana Kostina
Personal information
Country represented	Russia
Former countries represented	Soviet Union
Born	(1972-04-15)15 April 1972 Irkutsk, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Died	11 February 1993(1993-02-11) (aged 20) Moscow, Russia
Discipline	Rhythmic gymnastics
Assistant coach(es)	Olga Buyanova
Medal record Representing Russia World Championships 1992 Brussels All-around 1992 Brussels Rope 1992 Brussels Hoop 1992 Brussels Ball 1992 Brussels Clubs European Championships 1992 Stuttgart Hoop 1992 Stuttgart Ball 1992 Stuttgart Clubs 1992 Stuttgart All-around 1992 Stuttgart Team Representing Soviet Union World Championships 1989 Sarajevo Team 1991 Athens Team 1989 Sarajevo Ball European Championships 1990 Gothenburg Team 1990 Gothenburg Hoop Goodwill Games 1990 Seattle Ball 1990 Seattle All-around 1990 Seattle Rope

Oksana Alexandrovna Kostina (Russian: Оксана Александровна Костина; 15 April 1972 – 11 February 1993) was a Russian individual rhythmic gymnast. She was the 1992 World All-around champion and 1992 European All-around bronze medalist.

Career

For years, Kostina remained in the shadow of two Ukrainian gymnasts, Oksana Skaldina and Olexandra Tymoshenko. Though she won the all-around bronze medal at the 1992 European Championships, she was not selected for the Olympic Games in Barcelona. Kostina and her coach, Olga Buyanova, frustrated by what they felt was the Unified Team's favoritism toward Skaldina, traveled to Barcelona and Kostina trained with the British team for a short time before she was ordered home.

Kostina at the 1992 World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships

In the absence of the two Ukrainian gymnasts, Kostina won the All-around gold medal, as well as gold medals in rope, hoop, ball and clubs at the 1992 World Championships in Brussels. She became Russia's first World Champion as an independent country. Her goal was to compete at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.

Death

Kostina died in a car crash on 11 February 1993 in Moscow, a few weeks shy of her 21st birthday. She was engaged to Eduard Zenovka, a fellow athlete and Pentathlon bronze-medalist at the Olympic Games in Barcelona. A lorry that was driving in the opposite direction crashed head-on into their vehicle. Both athletes were seriously injured and needed surgery in hospital. Sixteen hours later, Kostina died from injuries sustained at the car crash. The police investigation revealed that Zenovka, who was driving the car, was heavily intoxicated at the time of the accident.

Achievements

Kostina was one of the few gymnasts to win gold medals in all of the apparatus in a single World Championship, along with Bianka Panova, Ekaterina Serebrianskaya and Evgenia Kanaeva.

External links

• Oksana Kostina at the International Gymnastics Federation
• Oksana Kostina at r-gymnastics.com (in Russian)