Magazine content is available exclusively for TIME subscribers.Tfigure Skater Oksana Baiul: The Odyssey of an Orphan
A strange fog has shrouded the rink at the Odessa Sports Palace, making the skaters look as if they are gliding on air. The decrepit building's ancient cooling system is losing the battle with September sunshine. When the air finally clears, only one skater still looks as if she is floating. She is Oksana Baiul, 16, the world figure-skating champion and the favorite to win the gold in the Olympics next month. It is astonishing that she can train at all on the soft, uneven ice, but a bad surface has been just one of the problems she has had to...
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