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Oksana Baiul biography

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Ukrainian athlete Oksana Baiul won the 1994 Olympic gold in women’s figure skating. Since then she battled alcoholism and returned to professional skating.

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Oksana Baiul was born on November 26, 1977, in the Ukraine. She began ice-skating when she was 4 years old and was orphaned at the age of 13. She moved in with her coach to continue skating. In 1933, she won the Ukrainian National Championships and the World Championships. A year later she won the Olympics. She now trains in Richmond, Virginia and has written two books.

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Figure skater. Born November 16, 1977 in the Ukraine. The only child of Sergei and Marina Baiul, Oksana was abandoned by her father at age two and began skating when she was four. She was orphaned at age 13 after her grandparents and mother died within three years of one another and subsequently moved in with her skating coach to train on the national level.

In 1993, Baiul won both the Ukranian National Championships and World Championships. She went on to beat Nancy Kerrigan in the 1994 Olympics to secure the gold in women's figure skating. The much-publicized win occurred in the wake of the scandal in which the husband and associates of skater Tonya Harding deliberately injured Kerrigan.

After the Olympics, Baiul moved to the United States, where she skated in professional tours while battling a drinking problem. Her addiction culminated in a car crash in 1997, after which she entered a rehab program and returned to professional skating. Baiul now trains in Richmond, Virginia.

Baiul has written two books, Oksana, My Own Story and Secrets of Skating.

© 2012 A&E Television Networks. All rights reserved.

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