She was 50.

Officials in the Russian city of Novosibirsk, where Cheryazova was living for the last two decades, said she died "following a lengthy illness," without giving further details.

Competing for newly independent Uzbekistan, Cheryazova won the gold medal when aerials skiing became an official Olympic event at Lillehammer 1994. 

Competing despite a training injury, Cheryazova pulled off a triple flip to win gold by less than one point despite nearly falling on the landing.

Shortly after winning, she learned her mother died three weeks before. 

Her mother had been severely wounded in an industrial accident and reportedly asked that Cheryazova not be told of her death until after the competition.

Cheryazova's career was derailed later that year when she suffered a serious head injury while training in the United States, striking her head on the ramp during a jump and spent several days in a coma.

She retired after the 1998 Winter Olympics, in Nagano where she failed to qualify for the final. 

Cheryazova won the gold medal at the International Ski Federation (FIS) Freestyle Ski World Championships 1993 in Altenmarkt in Austria.

She also clinched the FIS Freestyle Skiing aerials World Cup crystal globes in 1993 and 1994, winning 13 World Cup events between 1992 and 1994.  

With poverty widespread in Uzbekistan following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Cheryazova moved to Russia, where she helped to raise funds for skiers and appeared at Government events to popularise sport and fitness.

Cheryazova remains Uzbekistan's only medallist at the Winter Olympics, and the only woman to win a gold medal at the Summer or Winter Olympics for the Central Asian nation.