VOLGOGRAD, Russia -- Yelena Romanova, the 3,000-meter gold medalist for Russia at the 1992 Olympics, has died. She was 43.
Romanova died Sunday at her home, the Volgograd regional sports committee said Wednesday. It would not give the cause of death.
The middle-distance runner won the gold medal at the Barcelona Games with a time of 8 minutes, 46.04 seconds, edging teammate Tatyana Dorovskikh. She was on the Unified Team that competed after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.
Romanova was second in the 3,000 at the world championships the previous year, and sixth in the 5,000 at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.
She returned to sports last year as a coach, taking on a group of young athletes coached by Gennady Naumov -- once her coach -- after he died, the regional sports committee said.
Romanova is survived by a 22-year-old son. Her funeral was held Tuesday.
Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press