Oksana Baiul was born in Dnipropetrovsk, Soviet Union, in what is present-day Ukraine. She was only 13 when her mother, Marina, died of ovarian cancer. She had already lost her loving maternal grandparents as well. Her father had departed from her life after her parents' divorce when she was a baby, and her stepfather had no interest in raising her. After living with friends and sleeping on a cot at her hometown ice rink, she was eventually taken in by the top-ranked figure-skating coach in Odessa, Galina Zmievskaya, with whom Baiul subsequently lived while training. Zmievskaya's pupil and son-in-law, Olympic figure-skating champion Victor Petrenko, helped cover Baiul's expenses. Baiul won the 1993 World Figure Skating Championship in her first senior competitive season at the age of 15. She then won the gold medal at the 1994 Winter Olympics, defeating Nancy Kerrigan from the US. Baiul nearly missed competing in the free skate altogether, having been injured after a collision with Tanja Szewczenko of Germany during a warm-up session following the ladies' short program. She received two Olympic-approved pain-killing injections of anesthetics, in her lower back and shoulder, which enabled her to perform and complete her free skate. Baiul turned professional after the 1994 Winter Olympics, even though she was only 16 years old at the time and had only competed in four major international events (winning the two highest ranked — World Figure Skating and the Olympics -- and finishing second in the European competition in 1993 and 1994). Following her win at the 1994 Winter Olympics, some skating commentators and critics praised Baiul's balletic style and performance ability. Following the Olympics, however, Baiul was plagued by two physical ailments that affected her skating ability. The first was arthroscopic knee surgery in the summer of 1994, after which she was advised by her doctor to not return to the ice for two months. Due to the million dollar contract signed by her coach/manager/surrogate mother, Zmievskaya, Baiul ignored doctor's wishes (at Zmievskaya's behest) and returned to the ice in two weeks; she was competing again in six. This move, along with changes in her maturing body, drastically hindered her jumping ability. In response to her increasing professional and personal problems, Baiul turned to alcohol. In 1997, she was arrested after intoxication caused her to crash her car. She eventually entered a rehab program. Since then, Baiul has continued to skate professionally from time to time, including an engagement with the touring show "Broadway on Ice". Baiul lived in Richmond, Virginia for a while before moving to her current residence in New Jersey. She recently amicably ended an engagement with long-time boyfriend, Gene Sunik. She has her own line of clothing and jewelry. In November 2005, she appeared on the Bravo program Celebrity Poker Showdown. She also is part of the celebrity panel of judges (along with Steve Garvey and Jonny Moseley) on the American Broadcasting Company show Master of Champions. Although she was raised as a Russian Orthodox Christian, Baiul is of partial Jewish descent, her maternal grandmother being Jewish.[1] In part for this reason, she supports the Tikva Children's Home Charity, which offers help to the Jewish children of Odessa, Ukraine. In addition, Baiul supports and is a member of the International Museum of Women, a world-class cultural and educational institution the mission of which is to celebrate the lives of women around the world. In December2006 Oksana was warmly welcomed in Moscow, where she skated at the Red Square ice rink alongside famous champions from Russia, China, France, and other countries. In February 2007, Oksana will collaborate with renowned ballet dancer Saule Rachmedova to bring together New York Ice Theater and couture fashion for the debut of innovative fashion designer Levi Okunov's Winter Collection. In Late March 2007, Oksana appeared on MTV's TRL. She was there to promote the new ice skating film Blades of Glory starring Will Ferrell. Beginning May 16th 2007, Oksana will be starring in the world premiere of the ice skating musical "Cold As Ice" [1], along with figure skaters Derrick Delmore and Stephanie Rosenthal. This musical will performed at the Gateway Playhouse in New York with rumors of a possible tour and broadway transfer.
Olympic Gold Medal
Trivia
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Although an Olympic and World champion, Baiul never won a gold medal at the European Figure Skating Championships.
Oksana's parents divorced when she was 2, and she did not see her father until years later.
Her long program at the 1993 World Championships contained no combination jumps. This caused fury in silver medalist Surya Bonaly of France, who thought she skated the better program (her program contained a triple toe-half loop-triple salchow combination) and that she was "cheated" of the gold. Surya would earn the same medal color the next two years running. In 1994 she also said that she felt that she skated a better program than Yuka Sato, but in 1995 she knew that Lu Chen deserved the gold.
Chazz: "...She's as cold as the ice she skates on . She's like dry ice. No, wait! She's colder than that. What's colder than dry ice?"
Jimmy: "I don't know."
Chazz: "I'll tell you what is, Oksana."
Oksana Baiul Everyone has problems and tragedies that they try to overcome. No one would have blamed Oksana Baiul if she had given up, saying enough is enough. In an amazing story, Baiul refused to quit, despite many heartbreaking setbacks. A virtually unknown figure... more
Ukraine
