Olympic ice dancing champion Roman Kostomarov commented ironically on his performance in the Avatar show and joked about his lack of a voice. His words are quoted “Sports Express”.
“Honestly, I’m surprised how you can guess a person from the avatar. Addressing the jury, Kostomarov said: “I am being very ironic about myself; I have no arms, no legs, and I also have no voice.”
In the fourth episode of the show, which was broadcast on November 26, Kostomarov appeared performing in the Tin Man costume. The skater performed Igor Kornelyuk’s song “The Non-Existent City”, which appeared in the 1990s TV series “Gangster Petersburg”. During his performance, the jury members, including Mark Tishman, Ida Galich, Irina Ponarovskaya, Sergei Lazarev and Timur Batrutdinov, recognized Kostomarov’s voice and each of them could not hold back tears during the performance of the number.
In early January 2023, Kostomarov was hospitalized after performing at an outdoor show. The skater, who was taken to intensive care due to pneumonia, was connected to a respirator and his condition was evaluated to be extremely serious. The athlete was then transported to a hospital in Kommunarka, resuscitated and connected to an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machine. During the treatment, both Kostomarov’s feet and hands were amputated.
At the beginning of July 2023, the skater was discharged from the hospital. On June 26, Kostomarov posted the first video of himself training in prosthetics. On August 22, Kostomarov, together with his wife Oksana, participated in Ilya Averbukh’s ice show “Love Letters” in Sochi. It was his first time on the ice in front of fans since he was hospitalized.
Kostomarov danced ice dancing with Tatyana Navka. With him he became the 2006 Olympic champion, two-time world champion, three-time European champion, three-time winner of the Grand Prix finals and three-time champion of Russia. Honored Master of Sports of Russia.
Previously Kostomarov invited for a tennis tournament.