Oksana Baiul on the Rosie show

[skateluvr]

I always wonder how much better Oksana would have been if she had a stable home life and a lived in a country with much better training facilities. It's amazing she did as well as she did training in the Ukraine which had lost the support of the Soviet Union. Imagine if she had the support and training of someone like Nancy Kerrigan had for instance. Oksana really did have it all.

I find this an odd quote. Oksana had every chance to train with Viktor, his wife and Galina, her coach, but the money poured in as a pro (and nancy's suffering was the cause of many getting rich.) It seems more honest to say Oksana got a sympathy vote and one tenth point in a flawed LP to win gold. She was very lucky, luckier than most skaters and when you rewatch all the skating of Nancy and Oksana, Oksana had a certain innocence as a kid that Nancy had, too, but nancy was a woman, with a mature style by 1994. It is amazing how Nancy was skewered for a couple comments and no one says how brave she was. It is traumatizing to be assaulted in any setting.It would hve been totally understandable if she withdrew. She worked like crazy and we saw what a champion she was. Oksana would have benefitted from the money train as silver medalist and "the ballerina." And likely she would not have had the hangers on who blew a lot of smoke her way as Gold medalist. She had very little humility over many years.

Nancy was amazing to come back, compete as she did and many fan, judges, insiders felt Nancy deserved the gold. Her LP was flawless except for a doubled jump. Her quiet maturity and lack of any flamboyance in her skating often was depicted as cold. But if you really watch her, she was feeling her music, just not a showy skater-she was very reserved as a youngster. She has been an amazing giver in life and forgiven people. It must have been so hard to face Tonya Harding in that interview, and yes, she had more support than Oksana, but she was amazing and deserving. Nancy's family had its share of dysfunctionalism amd she has been through more than any champion skater. Her love is her kids, so I don't think the gold much matters, but she wasn't treated well for a couple goofy remarks.

She won two Olympic medals for us, and she is hardly ever mentioned as anyone's favorite skater due to a couple silly, lame remarks. Oksana is not the only skater who lost everyone and still skated. We have known Oksana a long time and she has mostly been a diva. I'm sure she does her share of skaters giving back, but she really lost a lot of support for the diva behavior. I know people will say that is how Russian gold medalists behave, but there are at least a few exceptions. Oksana was a poor example as far as female gold medal skaters go. Perhaps the silver would have let her maintain her much more attractive humble side. I'm sure ) I hope) she has matured a lot.

[Nadine]

What a weird strange thread; it started out fine and then deteriorated into something else with mention of Nancy Kerrigan and whatever else; didn't even bother to read that part. Bizarre.

Anyhow, all that's in the past, over & done with, finito.

I just wanted to post that I found the youtube link I mentioned in my earlier post: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MB7xJcPV1ys Lol I thought it was "The Swan" when it actually was "Swan Lake".

Also, I found these two wonderful links of her skating at the same Mohank Mountain House (that's the name of the resort I was talking about in my original post btw: http://www.mohonk.com/ ):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugs3YSzuiXQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UH_dibr2gZw ***Note: her own vocals are used in this one, likewise she's wearing that beautiful gold dress I've long admired since I first saw her wearing it to "It's A Wonderful World".*** (:^)


She's obvioulsy in a state of grace, wonderful to see, very very blessed.

Aww, what I wouldn't give to visit that fabulous Victorian resort, walk the luscious grounds, partake in the beauty & scenery, bikeride, skate, roam God's earth. And to think she actually is blessed to live & skate there, what a lucky woman she is!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohonk_Mountain_House

[heyang]

I always wonder how much better Oksana would have been if she had a stable home life and a lived in a country with much better training facilities. It's amazing she did as well as she did training in the Ukraine which had lost the support of the Soviet Union. Imagine if she had the support and training of someone like Nancy Kerrigan had for instance. Oksana really did have it all.

Peronally, Oksana didn't do much for me.... maybe too much drama for my taste.


We an't say that Oksana wouldn't have derailed with her parents around. Given the state of skating in the Ukraine, her parents might've taken the same path and sent her overseas to tour, etc, which is where she started to party.

However, if the USSR had not broken up, it's possible that she would've continued to skate IMHO since the opportunity and support would have existed. They would've likely enforced a skating regimen that would have better managed her weight, etc.