The 1988 Olympic champion Yelena Shushunova passed away at 49 years old at a hospital in Saint Petersburg. According to Elena Mikhaylova, a representative of the Russian Artistic Gymnastics Federations, Shushunova had complications from pneumonia which led to her death:

“Yesterday, her sister took her to the hospital while Shushunova passed away during the night. There are no autopsy results yet. According to the preliminary report, the reason for her death was complications from pneumonia”.