JACKSON TWP. – It’s not often you get to take the ice with an Olympic gold medalist.
Skaters at Center Ice got the chance to do just that when Oksana Baiul stopped by the rink on Sept. 4.
Baiul, the 1993 world champion and the 1994 Olympic champion in ladies’ singles figure skating, made the stop on her way to the nearby Akron-Canton Airport. She was in town as the keynote speaker to kick off National Recovery Month for the Akron Recovery Court and Akron OVI Court. Before heading to Center Ice, she shared her journey to recovery.
With a giant smile on her face, Baiul breezed into Center Ice and met with aspiring Olympians and fans.
Professional skater — now coach — Susan Lindway traveled from Seven Hills with her father, Joe, to see Baiul.
“It’s super special,” Lindway said as she waited for the Olympian to arrive. “There was a lot of hype around Nancy Kerrigan (for the 1994 Winter Olympics). She was favored, but Baiul pulled out that extra triple and nailed it. She was the underdog and she skated the program of her life. Who doesn’t love that kind of story?”
Lindway, whose mother is Ukrainian, said the entire family cried as she accepted the gold medal.
The Lindways brought along a copy of the Feb. 26, 1994, edition of The Plain Dealer and its Olympic coverage.
Oksana Baiul recalls her 1994 Olympic performance
Baiul laughed as she held the paper up. She shared a story with those who had gathered about the day she competed in the long program portion of the Games.
She was ready to put her Olympic experience to be behind her. When Kerrigan took the ice, her coach told her not to watch.
“So, I did the complete opposite,” she recalled with a chuckle. “I remember when Nancy was skating, she had a perfect performance, and I was like, ‘Good for her, now my turn. I want to get done.'”
She would have to wait a little longer while volunteers cleared flowers and other items thrown onto the ice for Kerrigan.
Finally, she got her turn. When she landed her first triple lutz, she was feeling great. But toward the end of the program, she heard her coaches yelling that she forgot her combination.
Right before the end, she did two crossovers and an axel with toe. At that point, she threw her hands in the air. She was so happy to be done with her performance, she told the crowd.
Baiul told her fans she was not crying afterward because she won but because of the amount of pressure she felt.
“My life changed in four minutes dramatically,” she recalled as she picked up the newspaper. “This happened a long time ago.”
The win made Baiul the first Olympic champion from Ukraine to compete under the Ukrainian flag.
Fans excited to meet Oksana Baiul at Center Ice
Thirty years ago, Canton resident Jackie Koene purchased a poster of Baiul at a Scholastic Book Fair. It hung on her bedroom wall for years and she took it with her for a few moves.
“It’s not hanging on the walls anymore, but I knew exactly where it was,” said Koene, a skater and U.S. Figure Skating test coach. “I’m celebrating my 43rd birthday this weekend. When I was a little girl, I was just so inspired by her.”
Baiul squealed when she saw the poster, saying it is a good picture of her.
As Baiul continued to chat with fans, she snapped photos and signed autographs before getting on the ice with members of the Center Ice Figure Skating Club.
Among the skaters were sisters Ellie and Nora Krajeck and Molly Croasmun, members of the Center Ice Figure Skating Club.
Thirteen-year-old Ellie Krajeck pulled out a book about Baiul, hoping she could get it autographed.
“She’s like a ballerina on ice,” the eighth grader at Jackson Memorial Middle School said. She took ballet to improve her moves on the ice.
The girls got their skates signed by Baiul and a few pointers from the Olympian.
She joked with the girls that they “broke all of the rules” for her today, skipping out on school. But they insisted it wasn’t every day they got to meet an Olympian.
The 47-year-old mom said she loves being on the ice and “doing nothing.”
Baiul message to those aspiring to reach the Olympics: Never give up on your dreams.
“I’ve loved skating since the age of 4,” she said. “I wasn’t thinking about becoming an Olympian, but at the same time, I enjoyed performing and competing.”
Retired from competitive figure skating, Baiul calls Shreveport, Louisiana, home, where she lives with her 10-year-old daughter, Sophia.
Reach Amy at 330-775-1135 or amy.knapp@indeonline.com.
This article originally appeared on The Independent: Happy fans greet figure skating legend Oksana Baiul with 90s’ posters, newspapers
Reporting by Amy L. Knapp, Massillon Independent / The Independent
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
