Oksana Baiul was born on November 16, 1977 in the city of Dnepropetrovsk, Ukrane. Her mother’s name is Marina, and her father’s name is Sergei. Oksana lived in the small 3-room apartment where her mother and grandmother raised her. Her father disappeared from her life when she was only two years old. Oksana started skating at the age of four. She won her first competition when she was seven years old. Her mother hoped that Oksana would become a ballerina some day and she became… the ballerina on ice.


The life of sweet little girl was not so sweet. When Oksana was ten years old, her grandfather died, very unexpectedly. One year later her grandmother became very sick and died. Her life changed because a big part of her family was missing.