Russians chose 2023 Olympic champion Roman Kostomarov RIA News.
According to VTsIOM, 8% of those polled voted for Kostomarov. Figure skater Kamila Valieva took second place in the voting; 5% of those surveyed voted him athlete of the year.
Figure skaters Alexandra Trusova and Evgenia Medvedeva, skier Alexander Bolshunov and hockey player Alexander Ovechkin received 2% each in the poll. 72% of the participants had difficulty answering, while the other 7% gave the names of other athletes.
At the beginning of January 2023, Kostomarov was hospitalized after New Year’s performances at an open-air show. The champion was taken to intensive care and put on a ventilator with pneumonia, and his condition was assessed to be extremely serious. The athlete was transported to a hospital in Kommunarka, resuscitated and connected to an artificial blood oxygen saturation device (ECMO), after which he remained on a ventilator for a long time.
Complications caused by the disease led to the development of gangrene, for which doctors had to perform a series of amputation surgeries: the skater lost both legs, the hand of one hand and the fingers of the other hand. On July 6, Kostomarov was discharged from the hospital in Kommunarka, where he spent 175 days.
It was previously reported that Kamila Valieva. sent Evening dress photo from the Russian Championship draw.