Oksana Baiul, Lillehammer, 1994 Olympics figure skating gold medalist from Odesa, currently a US resident, has checked into a clinic to treat her drinking problem.
Last year she was driving nearly 100 mph on a road in Connecticut, in a state later described as legally intoxicated, when the car swerved and rammed into a tree, leaving the girl with a head wound and brain concussion. She had 12 stitches, while her boyfriend next to her got off with a broken finger. The police investigation showed that she was well over Connecticut’s legal blood-alcohol limit at the time of the accident. Considering that it was the 20-year-old skating champion’s first offense, the judge made a lenient gesture, fining her a mere $90. Oksana Baiul pleaded no contest and pledged to enter a rehab program.
After the accident the girl changed almost beyond recognition, cutting her hair short, growing 15 cm taller and putting on 4 kg.
The skater’s spokesman Shelly Schultz stated that she volunteered to take a course of treatment that would last about a month, but refused to disclose the place.
Oksana’s work and contracts secured her a very decent living. She bought a home in Simsbury, Connecticut, and lived there with several fellow Ukrainian skaters. What happened later could perhaps be attributed to the absence of adult supervision. Publicity was no longer amusing and the girl wanted to have fun. She said in an interview that her drinking problem began five months before the car accident. “I lost control and didn’t understand what I was doing,” she explained, adding that she was still a kid at the time. She lost her bearing and wanted to taste life. All of it.






