BAIUL, OKSANA

born Nov. 16, 1977, Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine, U.S.S.R. Ukrainian figure skater who at the age of 16 won the Olympic gold medal for women's figure skating at the 1994 Games in Lillehammer, Norway. She was the youngest woman to win the figure-skating title since Sonia Henie won at age 15 at the 1928 Games in St. Moritz, Switzerland. Known as the "Swan of Odessa," Baiul was one of the most graceful and artistically accomplished skaters in the history of the sport. Baiul overcame much personal tragedy to become a champion skater. Her father left the family when she was very young, and she was raised by her mother and her grandparents. Her grandfather bought Baiul her first pair of skates when she was about four years old so that she could exercise to lose weight. By 1991 both her grandparents were dead and her mother had succumbed to ovarian cancer. For a time, she survived through the support of her coach Stanislav Korytek. When he left for a job in Canada, Baiul moved in with her new coach, Galina Zmiyvskaya. With the guidance and support of Zmiyvskaya and friend and fellow figure skater Viktor Petrenko, Baiul began to flourish. She won the figure-skating world championship in 1993. Entering the 1994 Olympic Winter Games, Baiul's talents were overlooked amid the controversy surrounding American skater Tonya Harding, who had been implicated in a plot to injure her American teammate Nancy Kerrigan. Though Baiul trailed Kerrigan after the technical program, she landed five triple jumps in the free-skating performance, displayed her usual mesmerzing artistry, and, in the end, edged Kerrigan by one-tenth of a point to win the gold medal. After her Olympic success, Baiul, along with Zmiyvskaya and Petrenko, moved to the United States and began a professional career.