Olympic champion in figure skating, two-time world champion, three-time European champion, three-time winner of the Grand Prix finals, three-time champion of Russia, Honored Master of Sports of Russia Roman Kostomarov spoke about the recovery period and sports for the near future as part of the federal training marathon goals and dreams “Information. The first of the Russian society” “Information”, within the framework of the international exhibition and forum “Russia”, the press service of the association reports.
“At first I thought about why I survived and how to move on now. But my wife Oksana, my mother and my brother helped me with their support, saying, “We will walk this path with you, everything will be fine.” Kostomarov said that it is very difficult to get out of such a “swamp” without the support of loved ones.
The athlete noted that his athletic character also played a role in his recovery.
“Sports made me stronger, because throughout your sports career you often have to face difficulties, experience defeats, overcome yourself. After losing, you have to force yourself to work even harder to get back on the ice and win. Sports develop determination. Therefore, play sports, even if not professionally, but make sure you do it in a way that ensures that there is this essence in your character,” Kostomarov emphasized.
Talking about the difficult period of recovering from the disease, the skater noted that she did not want to feel like a loser.
“The difficulty is that tissue restoration, prosthetic fitting, rehabilitation – all this happens very slowly. You cannot sit up in bed because all your muscles have atrophied. It probably took me three months to learn how to stand upright. Then they gave me training prostheses and I took a few steps with them. The rehab specialists didn’t expect me to be able to go right away. And I walked for about fifteen meters without any railing or support. And when I got up again, I realized that I could move on,” Roman Kostomarov recalls.
The skater also shared her plans for the future.
“I already tried to go out on the ice, although I was still wearing sneakers. But for me it was very important to go out in public and support Ilya Averbukh and his show, in which I participated from the beginning of the project. Now my legs are already stronger and I can do a lot. Therefore, going out on the ice with skates and I want to feel what I felt before,” Kostomarov concluded.
The federal educational marathon “Knowledge.First” opened the educational program of the international exhibition and forum “Russia”, held at VDNKh in Moscow by decree of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The marathon will be held between 4-6 November.