Career
Foreign years, Kostina remained in the shadow of two Ukrainian gymnasts, Oksana Skaldina and Olexandra Tymoshenko. Kostina and her coach, Olga Buyanova, frustrated by what they felt was the Unified Team"s favoritism toward Skaldina, traveled to Barcelona and Kostina trained with the British team for a short time before the Russian Federation ordered her home. Her goal was to compete at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.
Kostina died in a car crash on 11 February 1993 in Moscow, a few weeks shy of her 21st birthday.
She was engaged to Eduard Zenovka, Pentathlon bronze-medalist at the Olympic Games in Barcelona. A lorry that was driving in the opposite direction crashed head-on into their vehicle.
Both athletes were seriously injured and needed surgery in hospital. Sixteen hours later, Kostina died from injuries sustained at the car crash.
The police investigation revealed that Zenovka, who was driving the car, was heavily intoxicated at the time of the accident.