Oksana Alexandrovna Kostina (russian: Оксана Александровна Костина; 15 April 1972 – 11 February 1993) was a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

and Russian individual

rhythmic gymnast Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport in which gymnasts perform on a floor with an apparatus: hoop, ball, clubs, ribbon. The sport combines elements of gymnastics, dance and calisthenics; gymnasts must be strong, flexible, agile, dexterous and coordi ...

. 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 Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

gymnasts,

Oksana Skaldina Oksana Valentinovna Skaldina ( uk, Оксана Валентинівна Скалдіна; russian: Оксана Валентиновна Скалдина) is a retired Ukrainian individual rhythmic gymnast and current coach. She is the 1992 Ol ...

and

Olexandra Tymoshenko Alexandra Alexandrovna Timoshenko, or Olexandra Olexandrivna Tymoshenko, ( uk, Олександра Олександрівна Тимошенко; born 18 February 1972) is a former Ukrainian individual rhythmic gymnast who competed for the Soviet ...

. 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 the Russian Federation ordered her home. 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 Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

. Her goal was to compete at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

Death

Kostina died in a car crash on 11 February 1993 in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, a few weeks shy of her 21st birthday. She was engaged to

Eduard Zenovka Eduard Grigoryevich Zenovka (russian: Эдуард Григорьевич Зеновка) (born 26 April 1969) is a former Olympic modern pentathlete. Career He competed at the 1992 Olympics as part of the unified team and won a silver medal in ...

, 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.Ей холодно! Зачем гимнастку Костину хоронили в свадебном платье
/ref>

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 Bianka Panova ( bg, Бианка Панова, born May 27, 1970 in Sofia) is a Bulgarian individual rhythmic gymnast. One of the Golden Girls of Bulgaria that dominated rhythmic gymnastics in the 1980s. She is the 1987 World All-around champion ...

Ekaterina Serebrianskaya Kateryna Serebrianska (born 25 October 1977 in Simferopol) is a Ukrainian former individual rhythmic gymnast. She is the 1996 Olympics gold medalist, the 1995 World All-around champion, a two time (1995,1996) European All-around champion, and ...

and

Evgenia Kanaeva Evgeniya Olegovna Kanaeva Order For Merit to the Fatherland, OMF (russian: Евгения Олеговна Канаева; born 2 April 1990) is a Russian individual rhythmic gymnast. She is the only individual rhythmic gymnast in history to wi ...

References

External links

*
Oksana Kostina
at r-gymnastics.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Kostina, Oxana 1972 births 1993 deaths Sportspeople from Irkutsk Road incident deaths in Russia Russian rhythmic gymnasts Soviet rhythmic gymnasts Medalists at the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships Goodwill Games medalists in gymnastics Competitors at the 1990 Goodwill Games