Practically her entire figure skating career was accompanied by scandals. Loud and not so loud. And it all started in industrial Dnepropetrovsk. It was there on November 17, 1977, that a daughter was born into the Baiul family. The girl's childhood is hard to call happy. When she was barely two years old, her father Sergei left the family, having started drinking and making trouble. The mother of the future Olympic champion Marina filed for divorce and soon found little Oksana a "new dad" - Anatoly.
From the age of four, Oksana began attending figure skating classes, although she dreamed of becoming a ballerina. Baiul was not accepted into ballet, told that the girl was somewhat plump. Dnepropetrovsk is one of the centers of figure skating in Ukraine, so fate was essentially predetermined. Everything was working out, the girl was progressing, and then - another blow.
Oksana's mother died of cancer at the age of 36, and the girl was left in the care of her grandmother, with whom she, in principle, already spent most of her time. But when the future star turned 13, her grandmother also died. The teenage girl was left alone. Finding solace in figure skating, Oksana did nothing but train, sometimes even spending the night in the locker room at the rink. At that time she was coached by Stanislav Koritek, but a year later the mentor also left the talented athlete. He went to work in Canada, because Stanislav also needed to support his family somehow.
The girl was handed over to Stanislav's father, Alfred Koritek. It was he who advised the famous coach Galina Zmievskaya to take on the young figure skater. Having some doubts about Oksana's talent (in 1991 she was only 12th at the USSR Championship), but still taking pity on her, Zmievskaya agreed. So Baiul ended up in Odessa, becoming a full-fledged member of her new mentor's family.
The athlete spent entire days at the rink, and the first successes were not long in coming. Already in 1993, she won the "gold" of the World Championship. Oksana became the first figure skater from the former USSR to bring the championship to her country, also becoming the youngest holder of this title in the last 66 years.
The career of the Ukrainian athlete rapidly went uphill, and already in the next year Oksana was awaited by the most resounding success of her life - gold at the 1994 Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway. Before the start of the competition in women's singles, no one thought about the Ukrainian athlete; bookmakers placed all bets on two American figure skaters - Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding. In addition, during one of the warm-ups before the free program, Oksana received a completely unexpected injury - she was accidentally hit by a skate by German Natasha Shevchenko.
When the time came for the free program and American Nancy Kerrigan was already anticipating receiving the Olympic gold, having earned fairly high scores, the artistic Ukrainian still managed to overtake her. Having performed two extra jumps at the end of her program and receiving the same average score as Nancy, Oksana overtook her rival by one tenth precisely in the marks for artistry.
Olympic gold for the Ukrainian, who was barely 17 years old! This came as a surprise to everyone; eloquent confirmation of this is the fact that the Norwegian organizers of the White Olympics searched for the anthem of the young state for half an hour. The only one who expected such a result was Oksana herself. She knew what she was striving for.
And then it began... The frenzied popularity that fell upon the young athlete took its toll. The test of fame proved too difficult for Oksana. First, she left her native Ukraine, moved to the United States, and turned professional. Second, she became the highest-paid figure skater overseas. She not only participated in ice shows, receiving million-dollar fees, but also never disappeared from television screens and newspaper front pages.
The fate of the Ukrainian figure skater was perfectly suited for creating the image of an unhappy child. All the managers around the athlete and simply hangers-on took full advantage of this. In almost every family in the United States, they watched with tenderness the fate of the Ukrainian embodiment of the American dream. Oksana Baiul participated in almost all television shows; they even made series about her. Riding this wave, the figure skater even wrote and published her book "Oksana. My Story."
Not surprisingly, the girl with not yet fully strengthened psyche developed a star disease. After the Olympics, Galina Zmievskaya continued to look after her, also having moved to the United States with her family. Specifically for the group of the former Soviet coach, which also included Zmievskaya's son-in-law, Olympic champion Viktor Petrenko, an ice palace was built in Hartford. But soon Oksana decided that she didn't need Galina's help either. She bought herself a ten-room house for $450 thousand and left her mentor.
Having decided that the whole world revolved around her, Oksana began changing coaches one after another. Nothing helped; she couldn't get along with anyone. The scandals she caused with enviable regularity in various public places got away with her. "Baiul earns up to two million dollars a year and appears in bars and restaurants in clothing more suitable for a 30-year-old woman. On the ice, however, viewers are forced to settle for little: the Baiul who brilliantly won in Lillehammer no longer exists. She has gained 10 kg and practically does not compete, since she is not capable of winning," wrote the American media.
Alas, more and more often Baiul was remembered not in connection with her performances on the professional ice, but after her scandalous antics. She could appear at competitions in a Christian Dior dress with a torn hem and unpolished shoes. She could throw a public scandal, not at all embarrassed by reporters. In the professional show business circle, Baiul firmly established a reputation as a scandalous and difficult person.
Acquaintances at the time described her roughly like this: "She is interesting to watch, no one knows what she might do. After a successful jump, she might, for example, scream at the top of her lungs, wave her arms. In her behavior - both on ice and in life - she has no sense of proportion. She is difficult to communicate with - she talks too loudly. Every other word is profanity... whether in Russian or English. As soon as she drinks, she starts undressing and walks around the hotel naked."
But the public still adored Oksana. And the athlete, amid the wave of universal euphoria, was truly lonely, and she began having problems with alcohol. She was wasting her talent, and she also threw away the money she earned.
This continued until January 12, 1997. That very day became a turning point in Oksana's career. While intoxicated, sitting behind the wheel of a car in which her friend Ararat Zakaryan was also present, she crashed into a tree on the side of the road. Oksana lost a lot of blood, suffered a concussion, and at the hospital she also received stitches.
The court sentenced the Olympic champion to community service and compulsory treatment for alcoholism. After completing the rehabilitation course, Baiul (yet again!) decided to drastically change her life and regain her lost glory.
Added to all the troubles was excess weight. The technical and artistic Oksana could no longer perform any of her jumps. She had to work very, very hard to regain her former shape. At first, Oksana began training under the guidance of Natalia Linichuk, the Olympic champion in pairs skating from Lake Placid, who was very pleased with her student's diligence. "I think Oksana is capable of coming back and surprising everyone," Linichuk said of Baiul. Soon Oksana did indeed surprise her mentor - by leaving her for her former coach Valentin Nikolaev.
Little by little, life began to improve, and before the Olympics in Salt Lake City, Oksana even appealed to the Figure Skating Federation of Ukraine to compete at the Games as part of the national team. But according to Olympic rules, athletes with professional status cannot participate in competitions. Even at home they could not make an exception for such a famous figure skater as Baiul.
The Olympic champion was invited to Salt Lake City as a spectator. It was there that Oksana met her destiny - a former compatriot, Yevgeny. He became a true support for the vulnerable and expressive, but still very strong in spirit, Oksana. She parted with all her pseudo-friends, stopped attending parties and consuming alcohol. For the figure skater, it is excluded in any form.
To this day, the athlete trains with Valentin Nikolaev and now competes in the United States. Oksana has not given up and works hard, hoping to regain her former successes and achieve new heights. Public opinion in the USA has again begun to speak of her in a favorable tone. It remains to hope that all of Oksana's troubles are already behind her, and only new achievements await her.