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Oksana Baiul

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Oksana Baiul
Born (1977-11-16) November 16, 1977 (age 46)
Dnipropetrovsk, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Height5 ft 3 in (1.60 m)[1]
Figure skating career
Country Ukraine
Retired1994
Medal record
Ladies' Figure Skating
Representing  Ukraine
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1994 Lillehammer Ladies' singles
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 1993 Prague Ladies' singles
European Championships
Silver medal – second place 1994 Copenhagen Ladies' singles
Silver medal – second place 1993 Helsinki Ladies' singles
Olympic medal record
Women's figure skating
Representing  Ukraine
Gold medal – first place 1994 Lillehammer Singles

Oksana Baiul (Template:Lang-ua; born November 16, 1977) is a Ukrainian figure skater. She is the 1994 Olympic champion in ladies' singles and the 1993 World champion. Baiul is the first and so far the only skater to win the Olympics representing Ukraine[2].

Early and personal life

Baiul was born in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union. Her parents divorced when she was two years old,[3] her father disappeared from her life, and she was raised by her mother, Marina – a French teacher – and her maternal grandparents.[4][5] Her grandfather died in 1987, her grandmother in 1988, and in 1991 her mother, who had previously been very healthy, died suddenly as a result of ovarian cancer.[1][5] Her father, Sergey, appeared in 1991 at her mother's funeral but Oksana wanted nothing to do with him.[3]

Baiul lived with the wife of her coach, Stanislav Koritek, who had moved to Canada, and then with friends.[1] In August 1992, Koritek's father phoned Galina Zmievskaya who coached in Odessa in southwestern Ukraine.[1][3] She was taken in by Zmievskaya and shared a small bedroom with Zmievskaya's younger daughter, also named Galina, in the family's tiny apartment.[1] Zmievskaya's son-in-law, the 1992 Olympic champion Viktor Petrenko, helped cover Baiul's expenses.[1][6]

In 1994, Baiul moved to Simsbury, Connecticut.[7] In the late 1990s, she lived in Richmond, Virginia for several years before moving to Cliffside Park, New Jersey.[8] After residing for 14 years in Cliffside Park, Baiul moved to Pennsylvania in March 2012.[9]

In January 1997, Baiul was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol after crashing her car into a tree in Connecticut.[10][3][11] The charges were dropped after she met the terms of probation and completed an alcohol education program, however, her drinking continued and in May 1997 she entered an alcohol rehabilitation program for two and a half months.[7] In a 2004 interview, Baiul said she had been sober for six years, saying "This is more important than Olympic gold."[3]

Although Baiul was raised as a Russian Orthodox Christian,[5] since childhood she was aware of rumors about Jewish ancestry, with other children sometimes calling her grandmother a Jew.[12][13] In 2003, she phoned her old rink in Dnipropetrovsk to ask for assistance in locating her father – assuming it was a joke, they hung up twice but eventually Baiul managed to convince them of her identity and the rink manager helped her reunite with her father in September 2003.[3] Her father confirmed that the rumor was true – her Romanian maternal grandmother was Jewish.[3][5][13][12] Baiul considers herself Jewish due to matrilineality in Judaism.[3] In 2005, Baiul said, "Being Jewish, that feels good. It feels natural, like a second skin".[5] She is of Russian descent through her maternal grandfather.[3] Her father died in 2006.[12]

Career

As a child, Baiul was interested in ballet but was not considered thin enough so her grandmother took her to skating lessons, saying it was ballet on skates.[13] Her grandfather was also supportive of her skating which she began at age three in Dnipropetrovsk.[4] She was coached by Stanislav Koritek until he was offered a coaching job in Toronto, Canada in March 1992 – he accepted due to problems in Ukraine after the collapse of the Soviet Union.[1] In August 1992, his father, Alfred – the vice-president of the Ukrainian skating federation – called Galina Zmievskaya, working in Odessa, to take on Baiul as a student.[1] Her other coach in Odessa was Valentin Nikolayev.[12] She represented FSC "Ukraine" (Odessa, Dnipropetrovsk).

Prior to the 1993 World Championships in Prague, Baiul crashed into the boards and displaced disks in her back and neck.[4] At the event, she stopped practicing and consulted a Czech doctor.[4] She decided to compete and won the World title at age 15. Because it was too late to try on a new pair of skates, Baiul competed with a pair that had crooked blades.[4]

At the 1994 Winter Olympics, Baiul was second to Nancy Kerrigan in the short program. During a practice session before the long program, Baiul collided with Germany's Tanja Szewczenko, sustaining a wrenched lower back and a small cut on her right shin from her left skate blade that required three stitches.[14] She received two Olympic-approved pain-killing injections of anesthetics in her lower back and shoulder which enabled her to compete in the free skate. Baiul placed first and won the Olympic gold medal ahead of Kerrigan.[15] During the announcement of her as the winner, overstressed Baiul fell into hysteric tears in front of TV cameras.[16] In addition to her Olympic title, she was also named Merited Master of Sports in 1994.

Despite their status as Olympic champions, Baiul and Viktor Petrenko faced the same difficulties back home in Odessa as their fellow Ukrainians, living in a financially strapped country where even meat was a luxury and utility outages were a common occurrence. Conditions at their rink in Odessa had deteriorated severely due to the lack of financial support from the government for figure skating since the breakup of the Soviet Union. They had no working ice resurfacer, so coaches and skaters often had to resurface the ice by hand. The conditions influenced her decision to turn professional after the 1994 Winter Olympics, even though she was only 16 years old at the time and had competed in only four major international events (winning the two highest ranked — World Championships and the Olympics – and finishing second in the European Championships in 1993 and 1994). Her coach and surrogate mother, Zmievskaya, negotiated a very profitable contract for her to tour the United States following the Olympics, an opportunity she could only take advantage of as a professional.

In May 1994, as a 16-year-old, Baiul signed an agreement with the talent agency William Morris Endeavor.[17] In November 2011, her manager, Carlo Farina, discovered accounting and collection discrepancies at WME.[18] After collecting $9.5 million from the company, she filed a lawsuit in November 2012 for an additional $1 million in compensatory damages and more in punitive damages.[18][17]

Following the Olympics, Baiul was plagued by physical ailments that affected her skating ability. She required arthroscopic knee surgery in the summer of 1994, after which she was advised by her doctor not to return to the ice for two months. Due to the million-dollar touring contract signed by her coach/manager/surrogate mother, Zmievskaya, Baiul ignored doctor's wishes and was skating again in two weeks; she was performing again in six. This move, along with changes in her maturing body, drastically hindered her jumping ability.

Involvement with skating after retirement

In 1994, Baiul moved to the United States after she and Petrenko were invited to train at Simsbury, Connecticut's newly built International Skating Center, with Zmievskaya asked to lead the coaching staff.[19] In May 1997, Baiul was dropped from the Champions on Ice tour due to concerns about her drinking, but she later completed a rehab program and in August 1998 she began training under Natalia Linichuk at the University of Delaware's skating center.[7] Baiul has continued to skate professionally from time to time, including an engagement with the touring show "Broadway on Ice."

In December 2006, Baiul skated at the Red Square ice rink in Moscow alongside famous champions from Russia, China, France and other countries. In February 2007, she collaborated with renowned ballet dancer Saule Rachmedova to bring together Ice Theatre of New York and couture fashion for the debut of innovative fashion designer Levi Okunov's "Winter Collection." The following month, Baiul appeared on MTV's Total Request Live. She was there to promote the new ice skating film Blades of Glory (2007), starring Will Ferrell.

Baiul had a role in the skating stage musical, Cold as Ice. The story surrounds six skaters from Canada, Russia, and the United States preparing for their national championships and the Olympics while dealing with demanding coaches, stage mothers, and other trials. The story itself was conceived and written by former skater Frank D'Agostino.[20] A full stage version of Cold As Ice was produced and presented by the Gateway Playhouse in May 2007.

On March 8, 2009, and again on March 14, 2010, Baiul made guest appearances at the Kate Wollman Skating Rink at Prospect Park in Brooklyn, New York, as part of the skating center's annual show. She also took part in meet-and-greet sessions with skating students after each performance.[21]

On Saturday, March 27, 2010, Baiul skated at the One Step Closer HIV AIDS figure skating exhibition. Directed and produced by Tim David, the benefit was for the AIDS Resource Foundation for Children. She performed her signature Swan Lake program and was part of the meet-and-greet after the show.[22]

Baiul is mentioned in the Family Guy episode, "Wasted Talent" (season 2, episode 20), during brewmaster Pawtucket Pat's song about his brewery [23]

Baiul has her own line of clothing and jewelry. In November 2005, Baiul appeared on the Bravo television program Celebrity Poker Showdown. She was also part of the celebrity panel of judges (along with Steve Garvey and Jonny Moseley) on the ABC show Master of Champions, which aired briefly in 2006.

Baiul supports the Tikva Children's Home Charity, which works to aid the Jewish children of Odessa, Ukraine.[11] In addition, Baiul supports and is a member of the International Museum of Women, a cultural and educational institution with the mission to celebrate the lives of women around the world.

Results

International
Event 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94
Winter Olympic Games 1st
World Championships 1st
European Championships 2nd 2nd
Skate America 1st
Nations Cup 4th 2nd
National
Ukrainian Championships 1st 1st
Soviet Championships 12th 10th

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Longman, Jere (February 6, 1994). "FIGURES ON ICE; Oksana Baiul: A Little Bit of Heaven on Ice". The New York Times.
  2. ^ as Viktor Petrenko represented the Unified Team when he won gold at the 1992 Olympics
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Hersh, Philip (March 17, 2004). "Golden feeling returns". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved October 21, 2009.
  4. ^ a b c d e Bondy, Filip (April 23, 1993). "Oksana Baiul: Orphan at 13 and Champion at 15". The New York Times.
  5. ^ a b c d e "Oksana Baiul, figure skating champion, embraces Jewish roots". Njjewishnews.com. June 9, 2005. Archived from the original on July 24, 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ Sports Illustrated, February 7, 1994: Volume 80, Issue 5, p. 78 "Window on the World: Having Triumphed Over Tragedy, Oksana Baiul Eyes the Games"
  7. ^ a b c Longman, Jere (October 16, 1998). "Striving for Recovery from Grip of Alcohol". The New York Times. Retrieved January 4, 2011.
  8. ^ Lipson, Karin (May 13, 2007). "For Oksana Baiul, a Role Close to Life". The New York Times. Retrieved March 22, 2011. Ms. Baiul, now 29 and living in Cliffside Park, N.J., was "competing" only in her starring role as Maya Propova, one of six fictional skaters jockeying for medals in "Cold as Ice," a new musical about the sacrifices and rivalries of the sport.
  9. ^ Rosenfeld, Stacey (April 5, 2012). "Olympian Oksana Baiul called Cliffside Park home for 14 years". NorthJersey.com.
  10. ^ "Facing the Music". People. February 10, 1997.
  11. ^ a b "Oksana's New Spin". The Jewish Week. February 16, 2007. Archived from the original on October 6, 2007. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  12. ^ a b c d Lyalikov, Sergei (November 12, 2007). "Оксана Баюл: такие события, как победа на Олимпиаде, никогда не забываются!". Reporter.com.ua (in Russian). Archived from the original on November 22, 2012. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |trans_title= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ a b c Lukaniuk, Liubomir; Yuzefchuk, Elena (November 16, 2007). "Оксана Баюл: "Мне подарят Челентано"". Segodnya (in Russian). Archived from the original on November 25, 2009. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  14. ^ Longman, Jere (February 25, 1994). "Baiul Is Injured In Skating Collision". The New York Times.
  15. ^ "Oksana Baiul". Sports-reference.com. Retrieved January 4, 2011.
  16. ^ Обличчя України. 1994 рік. Оксана Баюл
  17. ^ a b Gardner, Eriq (November 20, 2012). "WME Sued By Ice Skating Great Oksana Baiul". The Hollywood Reporter.
  18. ^ a b Johnson, James (November 21, 2012). "Oksana Baiul Sues William Morris Endeavor, Claims Talent Agency Took Advantage Of Her Finances". Inquisitr.com.
  19. ^ Rabinovitz, Jonathan (February 2, 1997). "When Olympic Champions Moved In, They Put Simsbury on the World Map". The New York Times. Simsbury, Connecticut. Retrieved January 4, 2011.
  20. ^ . Lifeskate.com. June 22, 2008 http://www.lifeskate.com/skate/2008/06/oksana-baiul-at.html. Retrieved January 4, 2011. {{cite web}}: |url= missing title (help)
  21. ^ . Brownstoner.com. March 6, 2009 http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/2009/03/weekend_events_57.php. Retrieved January 4, 2011. {{cite web}}: |url= missing title (help)
  22. ^ "One Step Closer HIV-AIDS benefit". Onestepclosernyc.org. Retrieved January 4, 2011.
  23. ^ "Oksana Baiul Biography". Rotten Tomatoes. November 16, 1977. Retrieved January 4, 2011.

Additional reading

  • Baiul, Oksana. (1997). Oksana: My Own Story. Random House Books. ISBN 0-679-88382-7.
  • Baiul, Oksana. (1997). Secrets of Skating. Universe / Rizzoli. ISBN 0-7893-0104-0.
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