Oksana A. Kostina, was a former Soviet

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 Individual Rhythmic Gymnast

Rhythmic gymnastics

Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport in which individuals or teams of competitors manipulate one or two pieces of apparatus: rope, clubs, hoop, ball, ribbon and Free . An individual athlete only manipulates 1 apparatus at a time...

. She was born in Irkutsk

Irkutsk

Irkutsk is a city and the administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, one of the largest cities in Siberia. Population: .-History:In 1652, Ivan Pokhabov built a zimovye near the site of Irkutsk for gold trading and for the collection of fur taxes from the Buryats. In 1661, Yakov Pokhabov...

, Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

.

For years Oksana Kostina remained in the shadow of the two Ukrainian

Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

 gymnasts Oxana Skaldina

Oxana Skaldina

Oxana Skaldina is a former Individual Rhythmic Gymnast. She started training in gymnastics at the age of 5 with Liudmilla Koval...

 and Alexandra Timoshenko

Alexandra Timoshenko

Olexandra Olexandrivna Tymoshenko born 18 February 1972 in Boguslav, Ukraine, USSR) is a former Soviet Individual Rhythmic Gymnast. She started gymnastics in 1980 at age 8 and she retired at age 20 in 1992. She was coached by the famous mother/daughter combination of Albina and Irina Deriugina...

, 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 and she had to be patient until the World Championships in Brussels

Brussels

Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...

, where she became the new RG Queen, winning all gold medals.

Oksana Kostina died in a car crash 11 February 1993 in Moscow

Moscow

Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

, a few weeks shy of her 21st birthday.

She was engaged to Eduard Zenovka

Eduard Zenovka

Eduard Grigoryevich Zenovka is a former Olympic modern pentathlete. He won two silver medals and one bronze medal at Olympics-External links:*...

, Pentathlon bronze-medalist at the Olympic Games in Barcelona

1992 Summer Olympics

The 1992 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event celebrated in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, in 1992. The International Olympic Committee voted in 1986 to separate the Summer and Winter Games, which had been held in the same...

. He drove the car which crashed into a truck. Both were seriously injured and needed surgery in hospital, where Oksana died a couple of hours later.

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