Oxana Kostina
| Oksana Kostina | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Country represented |  Russia |
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| Former countries represented |  Soviet Union |
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| Born | April 15, 1972 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | February 11, 1993 Moscow |
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| Discipline | Rhythmic gymnastics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Assistant coach(es) | Olga Buyanova | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Oksana A. Kostina, (Russian: Оксана Александровна Костина; 15 April 1972 – 11 February 1993) was a former Soviet Individual Rhythmic Gymnast. She was born in Irkutsk, Russia. She was the 1992 World All-around champion and 1992 European All-around bronze medalist.
Biography
For years Oksana Kostina remained in the shadow of the two Ukrainian gymnasts Oxana Skaldina and Alexandra Timoshenko, even though she won many international events before her excellent results at the 1992 European Championships. It was very hard for her not to be selected for the Olympic Games in Barcelona , Frustrated with what many felt was the Unified Team's favoritism toward Skaldina, Kostina and her coach, Olga Buyanova, defiantly made the trip to Barcelona. Kostina trained with the British team for a short time before the Russian Federation ordered her home.
After the controversy of the 1992 Olympics and with the absence of top 2 Ukrainian gymnasts, at the 1992 World Championships in Brussels, she finally won the All-around gold medal, as well as Gold medals in rope, hoop, ball and clubs
Kostina was determined to make up for her failure to make the team in Barcelona by preparing to take center stage at Atlanta having taken gold at five events at the 1992 World Championships.
Death
Oksana Kostina died in a car crash 11 February 1993 in Moscow, a few weeks shy of her 21st birthday. She was engaged to Eduard Zenovka, 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 drunk at the time of the accident.
A few months later in Alicante, Spain, the whole of the international rhythmic gymnastics community gathered for the opening of the 17th World Championships.
Achievements
- Kostina has won gold medals in all of the apparatus in a single World Championship, a record tied only by Bianka Panova, Ekaterina Serebrianskaya and Evgenia Kanaeva.
