Oksana Baiul

Oksana Bajul (Ukrainian Оксана Сергіївна Баюл; born November 16, 1977 in Dnipropetrovsk ) is a former Ukrainian figure skater who started in a single run. She is the Olympic champion in 1994 and the world champion of 1993.

Bajuls parents divorced when she was two years old. She was then raised by her mother Marina. When Oksana was 13 years old, her mother died of ovarian cancer. Oksana at that time had already lost her maternal grandparents and other relatives, no more. For a time, took care of her coach about her, but when he emigrated to Canada, she was all alone and had to spend the night on a cot in the urban ice rink. Halyna Smijewska, the most distinguished at that time trainer in Ukraine, Bajul brought to Odessa, she took in her family, acted as surrogate mother and trained them further. This was done on the advice of Smijewskas son, who later became Olympic champion in figure skating, Viktor Petrenko, who had also paid for the cost.

1993 Oksana Bajul was the first Ukrainian champion after the collapse of the Soviet Union. At their first European Championship was European Vice- Champion behind the Frenchwoman Surya Bonaly in Helsinki. This struck at the World Championships in Prague and was thus at first world champion. This was previously only Madge Syers, Herma Szabo and Barbara Ann Scott succeeded in the history of women's competition at the World Championships, where it Syers was the first world champion ever, Szabó as the first World Champion after the First World War and Scott as the first World Champion after the Second World War in this respect had significantly easier. Kimmie Meissner 2006, managed this feat again.

1994 Bajul defended their national championship title and was again in Copenhagen European silver medalist behind Surya Bonaly. This was followed by the Olympic Games in Lillehammer. In an extremely close decision Bajul won Olympic gold before Nancy Kerrigan of the United States. This Bajul almost missed the freestyle because it had collided with a preceding arriving with Tanja Szewczenko and had worn injuries. They then received two officially licensed syringes for anesthetic their pain.

Despite their status as Olympic champions Bajul and Petrenko faced upon their return to Ukraine with problems. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the ice rink in Odessa had come down by the lack of financial support. There was no ice resurfacing machines and the coaches and students had the ice with his hand freely make. It was therefore not surprising that Bajul changed after these Olympic Games, at the age of only 16 years, her competitive career ended and to the professionals to make money. Halyna Smijewska negotiated a good contract for them, which enabled it profitable to tour the United States. However, they had to deal with health problems. In the summer of 1994, she had to undergo a knee operation. The doctors prescribed her alone to fulfill their contract, but Bajul ignored this statement. This year Bajul and Petrenko were invited to train at the newly built ice rink in Connecticut. Smijewska should be a trainer there. So the whole family moved, including Smijewskas daughter Nina Petrenko's wife, according to Simsbury, Connecticut.

After some personal and health problems Bajul had alcohol problems and was arrested after a car accident under the influence of alcohol in 1997. Then she underwent a detoxification, which was successful.

She currently lives in New Jersey. You still occurs during shows and sells her own fashion and jewelry collection. Also published in 1997 a book about figure skating, as well as an autobiography. Her life was in A Promise Kept 1994: Oksana Baiul Story The filmed.

Results

Works

• Secrets of skating, ISBN 0-7893-0104-0
• Oksana: my story, ISBN 0-679-88382-7