The consequences of pneumonia are fatal for Roman Kostomarow: both feet of the former Olympic champion in ice dancing have to be amputated. He may also lose his hands. Meanwhile, reports of a possible corona infection are causing confusion.
The feet were the foundation of his success: Roman Kostomarow was a big star in ice dancing in the 2000s. At the 2006 Olympic Games in Turin, he won gold alongside his ice partner Tatyana Nawka, who, incidentally, is now married to Vladimir Putin’s press secretary, Dmitry Peskov. In the two previous years, the duo had become world champions, including just 2004 in Dortmund. The two Russians were also unbeatable at the European Championships, winning three times in a row.
But now the 46-year-old has suffered a severe health blow. As a result of pneumonia, the feet that had made him so famous had to be amputated. “The operation went without incident and the body is recovering,” a family member told the Russian news agency “Tass”. Kostomarov is conscious and in good condition after the surgery, which took place on January 24. But the ice sports icon apparently did not survive the health problems. “Now we are fighting to save his hands,” the family member continues.
As the Italian newspaper “Gazzetta dello Sport” reports, the 46-year-old was taken to a hospital in Moscow a month ago. His condition was already critical, but then continued to deteriorate rapidly. The doctors diagnosed pneumonia. This was followed by an artificial coma and connection to a heart-lung machine. As Sport1 writes, citing Polish media, there was later a risk of insufficient blood supply and the risk of parts of the body dying and decomposing. To prevent this, the doctors then decided to amputate.
Meanwhile, there is confusion in the international media as to whether Kostomarow could have suffered from a corona infection. The choreographer Maksim Staviski denied this to the Russian news site Sports.ru. “During his performance he was coughing but he didn’t have a fever so he didn’t seek help. At that moment there was nothing to worry about,” he said. According to other reports, the father of the ice cream icon told the same Russian news agency: “It’s probably the corona virus.”
