All predicted the Olympic gold of Lillehammer 1994 in the women's single skating American Nancy Kerrigan. As a result, the US representative was content with silver, and 16-year-old Ukrainian Oksana Bayul won. The 1994 Olympics brought Ukraine the first gold earned by a young athlete. What was the background to this triumph and how did the champion's sports career go on? How was the athlete’s personal life? All this will be discussed in the article.
Youth
Oksana Bayul is a figure skater, whose biography is interesting, rich. She is interested in many of her fans, since Oksana’s life is filled with rumors, intrigues, scandals. But let's talk about everything in order …
The future Olympic champion Oksana Bayul was born on November 16, 1977 in Dnepropetrovsk. At two years old, the girl and her mother were left together, the father left the family, a couple of years later Oksana's mother died of cancer. The grandmother who raised her granddaughter later died. In 1991, the girl was left an orphan literally. The girl had nowhere to live, and she spent the night on the bunk of her native rink. How did Oksana Bayul survive in such conditions? The biography says that later a talented girl was taken to her by Galina Zmievskaya, a well-known trainer who raised the 1992 Olympic champion in men's single skating Viktor Petrenko. The second coach of Oksana was Valentin Nikolaev, he was responsible for the hopping component of the programs.
Oksana Bayul: biography, awards, international success
According to Oksana, expressed in many interviews, the collapse of the USSR and the subsequent independence of Ukraine helped her achieve the highest sporting peaks. She could not get into the team of the Union, but the Ukrainian Federation herself called Bayul to Kiev and pre-scheduled international tournaments in which the figure skater was to participate.
In 1993, the Soviet skater Oksana Bayul made her debut at the European Championships in Helsinki. One and a half minutes after the start of the free program, the athlete found herself riding with a laced boot. Baiul drove up to the referee's table with a request to re-roll the program again. After the meeting, the judges allowed to do so. As a result, Oksana won silver at her debut European Championship, losing only to dark-skinned Frenchwoman Surie Bonali.
In the same year, Bayul made his debut at the world championship in Prague. The skater amazed the referees with the complexity and elegance of her skating. As a result, Oksana became the first debutant of the world championships, who immediately managed to win the tournament on the first try. In addition, she got even with Frenchwoman Bonali, who took second place in this tournament.
The athletes continued to find out which one is stronger at the next European Championship, held in 1994 in Copenhagen. Here again Frenchwoman Bonali won, and Bayul became the second. Experts believed that it was these two athletes, as well as American Nancy Kerrigan, who would qualify for Lillehammer-94 Olympic gold. How did Oksana Bayul show herself? The Olympics for the skater was a real test …
Olympic triumph
The main rival at the 1994 Olympics was the American Nancy Kerrigan. The memorable short program put by the trainer Galina Zmievskaya brought Bayul the second place, the American figure skater was in the lead after the first day of the competition.
The next day, Oksana had an unpleasant training incident. During the warm-up, there was a serious clash with figure skater from Germany Tatyana Shevchenko. The girls did not see each other when they tried to make a jump. Falling, Tatyana damaged Oksana's lower leg. She had to stitch. Also, from a strong blow to the ice, the athlete had a backache. All these troubles occurred the day before the free program, which was to determine the Olympic champion-94.
In an interview, Oksana recalled that she had heard the conversations of her coaches Zmievskaya and Nikolaev, where they decided whether to play in the free program Bayul. As a result, the trainers came to the conclusion that they should wait until the morning.
Another unpleasant moment was a strange letter. A cross was drawn on the white sheet with feces, and the text below said that Baiul would not become a champion, because it was made of the same material. The girl showed a letter to coach Galina Zmievskaya, but she encouraged the ward, saying that she was good for money. After this, Baiul firmly decided to speak.
According to Oksana, before going out on the ice, she radiated incredible confidence. The skater confidently performed all triple jumps and combinations and was about to complete the performance with a triple toe loop, but through the noise of the audience she heard screams from the coaches. Zmievskaya and Petrenko shouted: “You need a combination!” Baiul immediately changed the program and with the last note performed two triple jumps. All that remained was to wait for the judges' ratings.
Oksana sat in a chair and, without ceasing, roared from pain and nervous tension. Victor Petrenko calmed her, who said: "We won." According to the results of evaluations, Oksana was second for the equipment, after Kerrigan. Everything was decided by the voice of German judge Jan Hoffman, who put Bayul in second place in the short program. In the free program, he put the skater in the first position. As a result, six judges gave preference to a Ukrainian woman against five who supported the American.
The skating ceremony was delayed. Someone started a rumor that this is due to the fact that Baiul dressed up for a long time. The American Kerrigan joked that it makes no sense to dress up, because anyway she will whine. It is noteworthy that the American television channel demonstrated these words, and the image of the impeccable Kerrigan was spoiled.
Oksana Bayul at the Olympics still won, no matter what. In fact, none of the organizers expected the victory of the Ukrainian woman, so all the hitches were associated with the search for the flag of the country and the national anthem.
So triumphantly ended the amateur career of Oksana Bayul, and she switched to professional sports.
Moving to America and the beginning of a professional career
Even at the Olympics in Norway, with a light hand Zmievskaya and Nikolaev, a contract was signed on the relocation of Oksana Bayul and Viktor Petrenko to America. In the fall, they had to perform with a show program in Las Vegas. Even a young girl who did not know English had to radically change her life in a completely different country. In the famous gambling capital, Oksana decided to check her luck on slot machines. Here a policeman approached her and tried to notify the prohibition of gambling for minors. The situation was saved by Viktor Petrenko, who told the policeman that Oksana was his younger sister.
Later, Bayul broke up with coach Galina Zmievskaya. They tested the autumn programs and dispersed in different directions. The girl began to possess her fees alone. For some performances, Bayul was paid $ 10, 000 each, which immediately affected the increase in the material welfare of the skater. Oksana acquired a comfortable apartment on the 17th floor in New Jersey.
Alcohol addiction
Alcohol killed many talented people, this almost happened with Oksana Bayul. A lot of material appeared on the press about incidents of a drunken skater. The most famous of them was a car accident, in which Bayul got along with his friend Ararat Zakaryan. The car flew off the track and crashed into a tree. Fortunately, both participants in the accident remained alive, but Oksana was deprived of her driver’s license. The court also sentenced her to community service and compulsory treatment for alcoholism. For three months, the Olympic champion was in rehabilitation.
Resuming a sports career
Having recovered from alcohol addiction, Oksana Bayul resumes the skater's career. A well-known Russian coach, Natalia Linichuk, extended her helping hand. Oksana came to Moscow to train, and later she found out that Valentin Nikolaev, the trainer who brought the athlete to Olympic gold, moved to the States. Their union was restored. Despite the scandalous reputation, Oksana has always remained the darling of the American public. It is not surprising that immediately after returning to the ice she was taken to the famous Tom Collins show.
Suicide attempt
On the show, Oksana met the newly-minted Olympic champion, 19-year-old Ilya Kulik. The relationship lasted only three weeks, after which Ilya left the girl. The skater Oksana Bayul decided to survive the next shock with the help of sleeping pills. The suicide attempt was a sensation for the American press.
New love and new parting
After breaking up with Kulik, Oksana vowed not to fall in love anymore and kept her promise for a rather long time. In 2000, at a Christmas party in New York, the girl met businessman Eugene Sunik, a descendant of Russian immigrants. It is curious that Sunik did not know who his lover was, since he was not at all interested in figure skating. With this, he bribed Oksana.
She first met a man who saw in her primarily a beautiful woman, and not a famous athlete. Their union lasted five years. During this period, the couple has a common business. The company was engaged in the production of costumes for figure skating.
The couple broke up suddenly. According to Oksana, the disagreement occurred immediately after her return from Dnepropetrovsk, where the girl went to see her father. There are several versions of the separation of the couple. The most likely of them is considered the refusal of relatives of Eugene to accept Oksana. They constantly mentioned bad heredity and claimed that she would not be able to give birth to a child.
According to the coach of Bayul, Valentin Nikolaev, Eugene intended to make Oksana an ideal housewife, which could not suit such an ambitious person.
Jewish roots athlete
The father left Oksana's mother at the age of two and left for another family. As an adult, the girl decided to find him and found him in her native Dnepropetrovsk. Life was not easy for Sergey Bayul; he drank his whole life. Oksana also met her paternal grandmother. Despite the fact that her father was completely absent from the girl’s life, he followed her career and kept newspaper articles about the skater. After drinking, dad said that Oksana's grandmother and her mother are Jewish. This made a strong impression on the girl. Upon arrival in the United States, Oksana went to the synagogue. There she met her 32nd birthday.
Today Bayul Oksana Sergeyevna provides financial support to the orphanage in Odessa, which was sponsored by a Jewish charity.
Books
In the States, Baiul has authored two books published in 1997. One of them, Oksana: My Story, was autobiographical in nature, the other was called Secrets of Skating.
Oksana Bayul: victories, medals and awards
In her sports career, Bayul became a two-time champion of Ukraine, a two-time silver medalist of the European Championships, the 1993 world champion, but her main achievement, of course, is the 1994 Olympic gold.
The skater has an honorary badge of the President of Ukraine Leonid Kravchuk, issued immediately after the triumph at the Olympics.
