Oxana Vladimirovna Kuschtschenko ( Russian Оксана Владимировна Кущенко ; at the FIS to English transcription Oksana Kushenko * 18 February 1972 in Moscow ) is a former Russian freestyle skier . She specialized in the no longer performed discipline ballet (acro) . In 1997 she became world champion in this discipline. In addition, she won four individual competitions in the World Cup.
Oxana Kushchenko took part in the 1990 international youth championships on Pyhätunturi and won the silver medal in ballet. She made her debut in the Freestyle Skiing World Cup in December of the same year at the age of 18. At her first world championships in Lake Placid , she did not make it to the final and finished 17th. After a few starts without noticeable results, she won a world cup for the first time in Tignes in December 1993 by beating the American Ellen Breen . As a result, she managed to consistently rank among the top ten, but in the discipline classification she had to admit defeat to Breen and later to her superior teammate Jelena Batalowa .
After defending champion Batalova failed to qualify for the final at the 1997 World Championships in Japan due to weather conditions, Kushchenko was able to win the gold medal in the absence of her compatriot . Two years later she won the silver medal in Meiringen - Hasliberg behind another team colleague, Natalija Rasumkowskaja . She celebrated her last of four World Cup victories in February 1999 in Ovindoli . After removing ballet from the World Cup calendar, she ended her active career in March 2000. In the very last competition she was fourth.
Soviet Union Russia
