Roman Kostomarov is a skater who completely breaks the philistine stereotypes about his colleagues on the ice. Charismatic, brutal, in everyday life he looks more like a stern rugby player or fighter of a mixed style, but at the same time he achieved the highest heights in his life, winning several world championships and winning the Olympics. People who are far from sports, he is familiar as a former partner on the ice of the well-known Anna Semenovich, who went into show business after leaving figure skating.
Childhood
The biography of the skater Kostomarov could well have developed differently if not for a blind incident. He is a Muscovite, was born in the capital in 1977, and lived with his parents in Tekstilshchiki. Mom worked as a cook, dad - an electrician. An active, energetic child, Roman dreamed of playing sports, but he was not taken to gymnastics because of his age, he was not accepted to swimming for unknown reasons.
To get a simple boy into the world of figure skating helped my mother’s friend, who worked as a doctor in the Ice Palace of AZLK. So at the age of nine, Roman Kostomarov went on skates. He actively embarked on training and after a few months participated with senior pupils in New Year's performances.
The promising young skater Kostomarov was noticed by Lidia Karavaeva, who invited him to study in her group. The severe mentor treated the pupil as her own son, took care of him in every possible way, fed him lunches during breaks.
Novel with Katya
He came to figure skating relatively late, so a career in singles or in sports doubles was difficult due to the complex technique, in addition, he was rather tall. At the same time, the skater Kostomarov was surprisingly plastic, he felt great music, which allowed him to show himself well in dancing on ice.
Given the warm relationship between Roman and his mentor Lidia Karavaeva, it is logical that she invited him to try her hand in pair with her own daughter Katya Davydova. They skated together for more than ten years, with her skater Kostomarov began his great sports career at the youth level.
In 1996, the guys made their bright debuts at the international level, having won the World Junior Championships, a year later they were third in the adult championship of Russia. Kostomarov and Davydova were considered the main favorites of the Winter Universiade, but could not reach the end of the tournament.
The American dream
In 1998, Roman decided to radically change the situation and moved to the United States. At first he lived in the most real Spartan conditions, sharing a rented cottage with his colleagues, existing on a scholarship of $ 150. It got to the point that every day the skater Kostomarov walked five kilometers to the training base, saving on public transport.
In Delaware, he began to work in the group of Natalia Lynchuk, who identified him as a couple with Tatyana Navka. Today it sounds ridiculous, but a year later the mentor found this duet unpromising.
The guys in the first joint season started well, winning the silver of the Russian championship. However, they were not so successful at the world and European championships of the 1998/1999 season, without getting into the top ten. Natalya Lynchuk considered that Tatyana was pulling Roman down and disbanded this pair.
Together with Semenovich
The new partner of Roman was Anna Semenovich, who then few knew outside the world of figure skating. The tall, courageous Kostomarov and the beautiful, sensual Semenovich looked ideally together on the ice and began to work out team interactions in a joint duet. The newly formed couple started well in the 1999/2000 season, taking part in the national championship. They went around many eminent couples and won the silver of the Russian championship, making a good bid for the future.
However, in the process, a clash of two strong characters began. A man and a woman could not find a common language, each training ended with a stormy clarification of the relationship. The coach in such a situation more often performed the functions of a boxing referee, pulling away from the Roman a charming and furious Anya.
This could not but affect the athletic performance of the skaters, who could not get out of the status of middle peasants in major international tournaments. They were tenths at the European Championships and only thirteenths at the World Championships. The logical outcome was the rupture of their sports relationship after the first season.
Nevertheless, in memory of a short period of cooperation, interesting photos of the skater Kostomarov with Anna Semenovich remained.
Navka again
Roman did not stay long alone, he soon reunited with his former partner - Tatyana Navka. Her husband, Alexander Zhulin, volunteered to train the skaters. At first, the guys got used to each other again, mastered new programs. A breakthrough for them was the 2002/2003 season, when for the first time in their career they won the bronze of the European Championship. In the same year they became champions of Russia, securing the status of the first pair in ice dancing in the country.
The next few years became the real era of Kostomarov and Navka in world figure skating. They brought their interaction to perfection and shone on world venues, winning absolutely all the tournaments in which they participated. By 2006, they were two-time world and European champions, twice won the Grand Prix finals.
Turin
The crown of the career of the main stars of ice dancing was to become the 2006 Olympic Games in Turin. However, the Italians Fuzar-Poli and Margallo, who returned to the ice specifically for participation in the home Olympics, were serious competitors to the Russians.
After the compulsory dance, the Italians were in the lead, it seemed that the judges would push the hosts of the tournament in first place. However, in the original dance, Margallo managed to fall while playing an elementary element, and Navka and Kostomarov came forward, slightly ahead of the American Belbin / Agosto couple.
In the free dance, which became decisive, guests from the USA made a gross mistake, everything turned out to be in the hands of the Russian skaters. Navka and Kostomarov skated their Carmen program at a high level, without making a single blot and gaining a foothold in the first place, becoming Olympic champions.
After sports
Having won everything possible, the athletes sensibly reasoned that they should leave at the peak of their career and decided to end their performances at international competitions. At the same time, they continued to cooperate and participated in ice shows as professionals, returning to Russia.
Roman Kostomarov became a regular participant in the projects of Ilya Averbukh, which he set for the First Channel. First, he was involved in the show "Stars on Ice", where he rode with the beautiful Ekaterina Guseva. Viewers liked this action, and they demanded a continuation. One of the main participants in numerous restarts of “Stars on Ice” was Tatyana Navka’s partner, who several times became the winner of ice projects.
Personal life of the skater Kostomarov
The first wife of Roman was the skater Julia Lautova, with whom he formalized relations in 2004. Their marriage did not last long, in 2007 they announced a divorce. The next beloved Roman also picked up from the world of figure skating. Oksana Domnina rode along with Maxim Shabalin, more than once won the national championships with him.
Roman and Oksana lived in a civil marriage for a long time, in 2011 they became the parents of a girl whom they called Anastasia. Unexpectedly for all, in 2013 Oksana announced the breakup, explaining this by the fact that Roman did not dare to marry her. However, everything settled down, they again began to live together, and in 2014 they signed at the registry office, fulfilling Oksana's dream.
In 2016, the skater Kostomarov and his wife became parents for the second time. This time Oksana became the mother of a strong boy named Ilya.