For the past few days, Russian sports fans have been in suspense for news about the condition of Olympic ice dancing champion Roman Kostomarov.

The former athlete was hospitalized at the beginning of the week with pneumonia, which led to respiratory failure.

The 45-year-old skater was first connected to a ventilator, and then, when he was transferred to a hospital in Kommunarka, they began to carry out the procedure of artificial oxygen saturation of the blood - extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.

He lies in the intensive care unit for cardiac patients.

According to reports, tests for coronavirus showed a negative result, and for influenza B - positive.

“There are no global changes, but the state has more or less stabilized,” a TASS source said on Thursday.

There is very little official information about Kostomarov's illness, as a result of which a lump of all kinds of speculation and rumors grows.

So, some media reported that the Olympic champion allegedly performed at one of the ice shows with a temperature of 38.4 ° C, and instead of treatment he dived into the hole.

This information was categorically denied by the figure skater's father Sergey Kostomarov.

"No that's not true.

And Roma has not been treated for anything now.

He just caught a cold somewhere.

He is a trained athlete.

I’m generally shocked that he got so seriously ill and where could he catch a cold like that, ”Match TV quotes him.

Kostomarov Sr. also confirmed that his son is in a stable serious condition.

“There is no contact with him yet.

Roman’s wife is informed about him every day,” he stressed.

In turn, Tatyana Tarasova spoke about the meeting with Kostomarov at the final performance of the ice show "The Wizard of Oz".

“I saw him on the last day at the performance, he had no fever.

He said that he was coughing and his chest hurt a little, but there was no temperature.

Swimming in the hole?

What kind of nonsense, who even writes this?

— RIA Novosti quoted Tarasova as saying.

Words of support for the famous athlete are expressed by both colleagues and ordinary fans.

His social media accounts are full of comments wishing him a speedy recovery.

The former partners of Kostomarov, with whom he performed at different stages of his career, Tatyana Navka and Anna Semenovich, are closely following the news.

“The situation is grave.

The doctors are doing their best.

We hope and pray that Roman's strong body will overcome this disease.

We believe that everything will be fine.

We need to pray and believe in the best!”

Navka called.

The singer and TV presenter, in turn, noted that Roman is a very strong person and a real fighter who will cope with this test.

“Dear Roma, let the charge of my positive wishes speed up your recovery.

Hold on, fight, don't be discouraged!

You can always rely on us in any situation.

I wish you good health and good mood.

Away with the blues, and forward - on the mend, ”Sport-Express quotes Semenovich.

A lot of talk is devoted to whether Kostomarov's illness could have been aggravated by performing at an open rink in Kolomna as part of the Winter in the Moscow Region project.

As you know, last weekend the temperature in the region dropped below -25 ° C, but the show took place despite the severe cold.

The famous coach Alexei Mishin urged not to blame the frost for the illness of the Olympic champion, and his colleague Inna Goncharenko noticed that the body of modern athletes is less adapted to skating on the street, while they used to train in any weather.

“Skating in open arenas is a different volume of air, a different temperature.

Willy-nilly, you capture this cold air to breathe.

You have to be constantly in some kind of movement, because if you get up, you immediately cool down.

And sometimes you have to stand in the show, there are some pauses.

If a person is not used to this, but is used to comfortable conditions, then it is not easy for the body, ”the Metaratings portal quotes a specialist.

She also recalled that now is the period of flu and colds, so the number of people around also plays a role.

The coach suggested introducing a mask regime at the show during the period of exacerbation of respiratory infections, at least for the audience, in order to protect athletes and artists.

“I think, first of all, the infection affected his condition.

Frosts could be as an additional moment when the immune system is weakened, ”said Goncharenko.

It is worth recalling that many active skaters suffered respiratory diseases before and during the December Russian Championship.

So, Vasilisa Kaganovskaya also came down with pneumonia, and Alexandra Trusova withdrew from the competition due to high fever.

A similar problem arose with Sofia Samodelkina.

In Krasnoyarsk, Mishin himself fell ill, who still has not fully recovered from his illness.

By the way, doctors also suspected pneumonia in him.

The chief physician of the Russian Olympic team Andrei Zholinsky noted on this occasion that no one is immune from this. 

“First of all, we are not talking about a specific sport and a representative of the sports community, but about a person.

In the conditions that there is an active spread of influenza now - even if not the same as we saw before the New Year - no one is protected.

And, of course, physical activity can give a slight decrease in the response of the body, ”he explained.