Could another Olympic gold medal be some-where over the rainbow for skating champion Oksana Baiul?
Oksana, who’s appearing in a CBS-TV ice skating presentation of “The Wizard of Oz” tonight, isn’t eligible for the Olympics right now.
I really want to, but now I can’t because I’m a professional,” the 18-year-old told us during a telephone talk.
Oksana lost her eligibility after she won the gold in 1994 by skating in events that were not OK’d by the International Skating Union, figure skating’s world governing body. But Oksana said things could change by 1998 — in time for the Japan Winter Olympics.
“They might change the rules one year before the Olympic Games,” Oksana said. “And maybe I’ll be able to (compete).”
It could happen. The Olympics in the past have offered pro athletes the chance to both compete against amateurs (remember the U.S. Dream Team?) and become amateurs again. So that may happen again in 1998.
But with her busy schedule, you wonder when Oksana would have the time to get ready for the Olympics. She’s been constantly touring the U.S. with such productions as “Nutcracker on Ice.” And she squeezed in some time for “The Wizard of Oz on Ice,” which comes on at 7 p.m. Central Time. Oksana plays Dorothy in the classic fairy tale, with fellow gold medalist and good pal Viktor Petrenko as the Scarecrow. Hot music star Brandy will sing “Over the Rainbow.”
It’s so much fun,” Oksana said about making “Oz.” But “it’s really hard work, because I used to work from 8 in the morning to 4 in the morning. I was working like three days for that TV special, because I don’t have enough time.”
That’s a mega-intense schedule, but “I enjoyed it,” Oksana said. “I did that and I said, ‘I don’t care if I’m tired or if I’m not, but I really want to do that.’ And I’m so happy.”
Oksana has been pretty much on the run since moving from Ukraine to Simsbury, Conn., more than a year ago, both for better practice condi-tions and because her friend and kinda-guardian angel Viktor lives there with a bunch of other skaters. (Both of her parents are dead, so Oksana is also looked over by her coach, Galina Zmievskaya.) In fact, she’s set to hit the road again in April for four months.
“Sometimes when I’m sitting at home, I get bored because it’s not my life,” Oksana said. “Sitting at home, watching TV, stuff like that (is not me). I want to go all the time on the road, every day a different hotel, packing my stuff.”
If things change with her eligibility in the coming months, Oksana may be off again to see the wonderful wizard of Olympic gold!
